Wednesday, April 18
Greystone Golf & Country Club / Birmingham, Ala.
All Day
University of Georgia
at
SEC Championships
Dogs Travel To Birmingham For ‘’New'' SEC Championships
April 17, 2018 | Women's Golf
Dogs Travel To Birmingham For ‘’New'' SEC Championships
2018 SEC Women's Golf Championship Notes
April 18-22 at Greystone Golf & Country Club
Birmingham, Ala.
Par 72; 6202 Yards
Complete UGA Notes
The Bulldogs' Lineup
1. Jillian Hollis – 5-5; Jr.; Rocky River, Ohio; Magnificat High School
• A combined 20-under on season
• Back-to-back individual wins at Augusta & ASU Invitationals
• On pace to break school season average by nearly a full stroke per round (71.52 is current mark).
2. Rinko Mitsuanga – 5-3; Jr.; Roswell, Ga.; IMG Academy
• Abbreviated fall schedule while taking part in LPGA Q School
• Qualified for the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Women's Opens
• Qualifier for each of the last five U.S. Women's Ams
3. Isabella Skinner – 5-5; Sr.; Cumming, Ga.; West Forsyth High School
• One of two UGA golfers – along with Coello – in the lineup for every event
• Shot collegiate career-best 4-over in last weekend's Liz Murphey
• 90.0 pct. counters in 2018 events
4. Gabriela Coello – 5-3; Soph.; Maracay, Venezuela; Windermere (Fla.) Prep
• In the lineup for all nine tourneys
• Has cut nearly a stroke per round from 2016-17 average (76.13)
• Runner up at 2018 Southern Am
• Four-time top-10 finisher at Florida Class A state championships
5. Paula Neira Garcia – 5-6; Fr.; Gijon, Spain; I.E.S. Calderon de la Barca
• Reigning Spanish Am champion, shooting 9-under for 7-shot win
• Repped Spain at the 2016 and 2017 Euro Team Girls Championships
• Tied for medalist and reached QFs of 2016 Girls' British Am
Dogs Travel To Birmingham For ''New'' SEC Championships
The Southeastern Conference will conduct a women's golf championship for the 38th time this weekend. However, this year's event will have a significantly different look than the previous versions.
The league has adopted a combination of stroke and match play formats to determine its champion, becoming the first league to simulate the format utilized for the NCAA Championships over the past three years.
The 14 SEC teams will play three rounds of stroke play on Wednesday-Friday at Greystone Golf and Country Club outside Birmingham. After those 54 holes, the SEC medalist will be crowned and the top-eight teams on the leaderboard will advance to a seeded match play bracket. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be contested on Saturday, and the championship match will be held on Sunday.
"I'm excited about it," Georgia head coach Josh Brewer said. "It's how the NCAA is determining their champion. Why wouldn't conferences follow suit? I know it's different than history and tradition, but things change over time.
"I think it will give people a reason to follow our championships more and maybe get excited when we get to match play," Brewer continued. "If we have a match against Alabama on the final day, it's different than just a day when Georgia and Alabama are next to each other on the leaderboard. I like to be on the cutting edge. The SEC is the first conference to do it and now everyone can follow the SEC again."
Brewer's Bulldogs will enter the SECs after building momentum throughout the spring. Georgia entered the 2018 calendar portion of the campaign ranked in the mid-70s of the Golfstat and Golfweek polls. That was largely due to the Bulldogs playing without their three returning All-Americans – Jillian Hollis, Rinko Mitsunaga and Bailey Tardy – while they took part in LPGA Q School in August, October and November.
Record wise, Georgia was just 11-37 in the fall. This spring, the Bulldogs are 51-16-1 with a pair of team titles at the Gold Rush and the 3M Augusta Invitational.
"It wasn't the best fall in Georgia history, but it's the reason we are playing well now," Brewer said. "We had to make some adjustments to our lineup. That provided an opportunity for someone to step up. People had to get used to travel and competing at the collegiate level, and now we're seeing the benefits of that."
Last weekend, the Bulldogs finished fourth in the 46th annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, trailing only a trio of top-5 teams.
"I think our confidence is as high as it has been all year," Brewer said. "It started with our first tournament of the spring at Long Beach and we've played well each week since then, which have given us plenty of reasons to feel more and more confident."
The Bulldogs' playing five in Birmingham will remain the same as it has for the last four spring events and will feature senior Isabella Skinner, juniors Hollis and Mitsunaga, sophomore Gabriela Coello and freshman Paula Neira Garcia.
Hollis, who has skyrocketed into the watch list for the Annika Award this spring, headlines Georgia's lineup. She has a pair of victories and two more top-5 finishes in four spring events. The junior from Rocky River, Ohio, is a combined 21-under this spring, including a school-record 7-under 65 in the final round en route to medalist honors at the PING/ASU Invitational.
Mitsunaga's return and steady play from Coello, Neira Garcia and Skinner helped the Bulldogs post a 292.07 team stroke average this spring after finishing the fall with a 300.55 mark.
The field for the SEC Championships is, as usual, stacked with many of the nation's top teams. Six of the league's 14 schools are featured in the top-25 of the most recent versions of both the Golfstat and Golfweek rankings.
This week's Golfstat ledger features Alabama at No. 2, Arkansas at No. 3, South Carolina at No. 10, Florida at No. 14, Auburn at No. 20 and Vanderbilt at No. 24.
In the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, Alabama is No. 1, Arkansas is No. 2, South Carolina is No. 9, Florida is No. 12 and Vanderbilt is No. 21.
Georgia, which is the No. 7 seed for the SECs, is currently ranked No. 36 by Golfweek and No. 38 by Golfstat.
UGA's SEC Tourney history
Georgia has captured a league-leading 19 SEC Women's Golf Championships all-time. The Bulldogs have won 11 team titles and eight medalist honors (years listed at the bottom of this page).
Florida ranks second with 18 conference championships, nine team and nine individual titles, while Auburn ranks third with 15 crowns, nine team and six individual.
UGA, UF and AU own 52 of the combined 74 SEC titles all-time in women's golf, while the other 11 league schools have captured the other 22 (eight team and 14 individual).
Hollis First Back-to-Back Bulldog Winner Since '99
Jillian Hollis' victories at the 3M Augusta Invitational and the PING/ASU Invitational represented the first consecutive victories by a Georgia golfer in nearly two decades.
Shauna Estes was the last Bulldog to secure back-to-back individual titles when she did so at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic and the SEC Championships in 1999.
Hollis shot 8-under 208 to win by three shots in Augusta and then finished at 9-under 207 for another three-stroke win.
Hollis came a stroke shy of extending her winning streak to three consecutive tournaments when she shot 6-under 210 to finish a shot behind co-medalists Cheyenne Knight and Lauren Stephenson at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.
The last Georgia golfer to win three straight titles was Reilley Rankin in 1998. That year, Rankin won the Liz Murphey, Bryan National, SECs and NCAA East Regional en route to earning National Freshman of the Year honors.
Bulldogs On Pace To Post Another Top-5 Average
For the third consecutive season, Georgia is well on its way to posting one of the best team scoring averages in school history. The Bulldogs enter the SEC Championships with a 295.65 average over 26 rounds, which would rank as the fourth-best effort ever.
Georgia established its school record for team average two years ago and notched the second-best mark in school history a year ago as outlined below.
Team Low Average
Happy Birthday Of Birdies
Jillian celebrated her 21st birthday in style. The junior from Rocky River, Ohio, equaled the lowest single-round score in school history – in amazingly similar circumstances to the original mark – en route to winning medalist honors at the PING/ASU Invitational on March 25.
Hollis fired a 7-under 65 to tie the record previously established by Vicki Goetze on the same ASU Karsten Golf Course layout in the final round of the 1992 NCAA Championships.
"I just had this feeling and I knew that I was going to play this good," Hollis said. "It's my birthday and I was already on a high so why not make eight birdies?"
A Whole Lot Of Ams
Five of the eight golfers on the Bulldogs' roster have a combined 13 appearances in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship.
Rinko Mitsunaga has qualified for each of the last five, while Bailey Tardy has reached the last four, Stephanie Carras has competed in the last two, Jillian Hollis participated in 2017 and Isabella Skinner earned a spot in 2016.
In addition, freshman Paula Neira Garcia won the 2017 Spanish Amateur by seven strokes after shooting 9-under.
April 18-22 at Greystone Golf & Country Club
Birmingham, Ala.
Par 72; 6202 Yards
Complete UGA Notes
The Bulldogs' Lineup
1. Jillian Hollis – 5-5; Jr.; Rocky River, Ohio; Magnificat High School
• A combined 20-under on season
• Back-to-back individual wins at Augusta & ASU Invitationals
• On pace to break school season average by nearly a full stroke per round (71.52 is current mark).
2. Rinko Mitsuanga – 5-3; Jr.; Roswell, Ga.; IMG Academy
• Abbreviated fall schedule while taking part in LPGA Q School
• Qualified for the 2012 and 2016 U.S. Women's Opens
• Qualifier for each of the last five U.S. Women's Ams
3. Isabella Skinner – 5-5; Sr.; Cumming, Ga.; West Forsyth High School
• One of two UGA golfers – along with Coello – in the lineup for every event
• Shot collegiate career-best 4-over in last weekend's Liz Murphey
• 90.0 pct. counters in 2018 events
4. Gabriela Coello – 5-3; Soph.; Maracay, Venezuela; Windermere (Fla.) Prep
• In the lineup for all nine tourneys
• Has cut nearly a stroke per round from 2016-17 average (76.13)
• Runner up at 2018 Southern Am
• Four-time top-10 finisher at Florida Class A state championships
5. Paula Neira Garcia – 5-6; Fr.; Gijon, Spain; I.E.S. Calderon de la Barca
• Reigning Spanish Am champion, shooting 9-under for 7-shot win
• Repped Spain at the 2016 and 2017 Euro Team Girls Championships
• Tied for medalist and reached QFs of 2016 Girls' British Am
Dogs Travel To Birmingham For ''New'' SEC Championships
The Southeastern Conference will conduct a women's golf championship for the 38th time this weekend. However, this year's event will have a significantly different look than the previous versions.
The league has adopted a combination of stroke and match play formats to determine its champion, becoming the first league to simulate the format utilized for the NCAA Championships over the past three years.
The 14 SEC teams will play three rounds of stroke play on Wednesday-Friday at Greystone Golf and Country Club outside Birmingham. After those 54 holes, the SEC medalist will be crowned and the top-eight teams on the leaderboard will advance to a seeded match play bracket. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be contested on Saturday, and the championship match will be held on Sunday.
"I'm excited about it," Georgia head coach Josh Brewer said. "It's how the NCAA is determining their champion. Why wouldn't conferences follow suit? I know it's different than history and tradition, but things change over time.
"I think it will give people a reason to follow our championships more and maybe get excited when we get to match play," Brewer continued. "If we have a match against Alabama on the final day, it's different than just a day when Georgia and Alabama are next to each other on the leaderboard. I like to be on the cutting edge. The SEC is the first conference to do it and now everyone can follow the SEC again."
Brewer's Bulldogs will enter the SECs after building momentum throughout the spring. Georgia entered the 2018 calendar portion of the campaign ranked in the mid-70s of the Golfstat and Golfweek polls. That was largely due to the Bulldogs playing without their three returning All-Americans – Jillian Hollis, Rinko Mitsunaga and Bailey Tardy – while they took part in LPGA Q School in August, October and November.
Record wise, Georgia was just 11-37 in the fall. This spring, the Bulldogs are 51-16-1 with a pair of team titles at the Gold Rush and the 3M Augusta Invitational.
"It wasn't the best fall in Georgia history, but it's the reason we are playing well now," Brewer said. "We had to make some adjustments to our lineup. That provided an opportunity for someone to step up. People had to get used to travel and competing at the collegiate level, and now we're seeing the benefits of that."
Last weekend, the Bulldogs finished fourth in the 46th annual Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic, trailing only a trio of top-5 teams.
"I think our confidence is as high as it has been all year," Brewer said. "It started with our first tournament of the spring at Long Beach and we've played well each week since then, which have given us plenty of reasons to feel more and more confident."
The Bulldogs' playing five in Birmingham will remain the same as it has for the last four spring events and will feature senior Isabella Skinner, juniors Hollis and Mitsunaga, sophomore Gabriela Coello and freshman Paula Neira Garcia.
Hollis, who has skyrocketed into the watch list for the Annika Award this spring, headlines Georgia's lineup. She has a pair of victories and two more top-5 finishes in four spring events. The junior from Rocky River, Ohio, is a combined 21-under this spring, including a school-record 7-under 65 in the final round en route to medalist honors at the PING/ASU Invitational.
Mitsunaga's return and steady play from Coello, Neira Garcia and Skinner helped the Bulldogs post a 292.07 team stroke average this spring after finishing the fall with a 300.55 mark.
The field for the SEC Championships is, as usual, stacked with many of the nation's top teams. Six of the league's 14 schools are featured in the top-25 of the most recent versions of both the Golfstat and Golfweek rankings.
This week's Golfstat ledger features Alabama at No. 2, Arkansas at No. 3, South Carolina at No. 10, Florida at No. 14, Auburn at No. 20 and Vanderbilt at No. 24.
In the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, Alabama is No. 1, Arkansas is No. 2, South Carolina is No. 9, Florida is No. 12 and Vanderbilt is No. 21.
Georgia, which is the No. 7 seed for the SECs, is currently ranked No. 36 by Golfweek and No. 38 by Golfstat.
UGA's SEC Tourney history
Georgia has captured a league-leading 19 SEC Women's Golf Championships all-time. The Bulldogs have won 11 team titles and eight medalist honors (years listed at the bottom of this page).
Florida ranks second with 18 conference championships, nine team and nine individual titles, while Auburn ranks third with 15 crowns, nine team and six individual.
UGA, UF and AU own 52 of the combined 74 SEC titles all-time in women's golf, while the other 11 league schools have captured the other 22 (eight team and 14 individual).
Hollis First Back-to-Back Bulldog Winner Since '99
Jillian Hollis' victories at the 3M Augusta Invitational and the PING/ASU Invitational represented the first consecutive victories by a Georgia golfer in nearly two decades.
Shauna Estes was the last Bulldog to secure back-to-back individual titles when she did so at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic and the SEC Championships in 1999.
Hollis shot 8-under 208 to win by three shots in Augusta and then finished at 9-under 207 for another three-stroke win.
Hollis came a stroke shy of extending her winning streak to three consecutive tournaments when she shot 6-under 210 to finish a shot behind co-medalists Cheyenne Knight and Lauren Stephenson at the Liz Murphey Collegiate Classic.
The last Georgia golfer to win three straight titles was Reilley Rankin in 1998. That year, Rankin won the Liz Murphey, Bryan National, SECs and NCAA East Regional en route to earning National Freshman of the Year honors.
Bulldogs On Pace To Post Another Top-5 Average
For the third consecutive season, Georgia is well on its way to posting one of the best team scoring averages in school history. The Bulldogs enter the SEC Championships with a 295.65 average over 26 rounds, which would rank as the fourth-best effort ever.
Georgia established its school record for team average two years ago and notched the second-best mark in school history a year ago as outlined below.
Team Low Average
| Season | Tour. | Rounds | Strokes | Average |
| 2015-16 | 12 | 33 | 9547 | 289.40 |
| 2016-17 | 10 | 26 | 7545 | 290.19 |
| 2006-07 | 11 | 34 | 10013 | 294.50 |
| 2017-18 | 9 | 26 | 7687 | 295.65 |
| 2005-06 | 11 | 34 | 10053 | 295.68 |
Happy Birthday Of Birdies
Jillian celebrated her 21st birthday in style. The junior from Rocky River, Ohio, equaled the lowest single-round score in school history – in amazingly similar circumstances to the original mark – en route to winning medalist honors at the PING/ASU Invitational on March 25.
Hollis fired a 7-under 65 to tie the record previously established by Vicki Goetze on the same ASU Karsten Golf Course layout in the final round of the 1992 NCAA Championships.
"I just had this feeling and I knew that I was going to play this good," Hollis said. "It's my birthday and I was already on a high so why not make eight birdies?"
A Whole Lot Of Ams
Five of the eight golfers on the Bulldogs' roster have a combined 13 appearances in the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship.
Rinko Mitsunaga has qualified for each of the last five, while Bailey Tardy has reached the last four, Stephanie Carras has competed in the last two, Jillian Hollis participated in 2017 and Isabella Skinner earned a spot in 2016.
In addition, freshman Paula Neira Garcia won the 2017 Spanish Amateur by seven strokes after shooting 9-under.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
Women's Golf - Coach Brennan and Coach Stevens Feature
Monday, April 28
Georgia Women's Golf - Lady Bulldog Invitational Highligths
Saturday, January 25
Georgia Women's Golf - NCAA Regionals Round Two Recap
Tuesday, May 07
Georgia Women's Golf - NCAA Regionals Round One Recap
Monday, May 06
