University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Back In Action At Darius Rucker
March 05, 2020 | Women's Golf
Georgia Coming Off 23-Shot Victory
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ATHENS, Ga. — Riding the momentum of a 23-stroke win at The Gold Rush just last week, the Georgia women's golf team will return to action this weekend. The Bulldogs will compete in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate on Friday-Sunday at the Long Cove Club in Hilton Head, S.C.
"I was so excited and also so happy about the win," sophomore Jo Hua Hung said. "I came here (to Georgia) and for a year we didn't win any tournaments. It was amazing and if felt like your hard work paid off and showed off and allowed us to get the win. I feel like the atmosphere on the team now is really good so we just have to keep it up and take care of our own games and the result will take care of itself."
Thirteen of the top-25 teams in this week's edition of the Golfstat rankings are included in the Darius Rucker field. No. 1 Texas tops that list followed by No. 4 South Carolina, No. 6 Duke, No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 12 LSU, No. 13 Alabama, No. 14 UCLA, No. 18 Arkansas, No. 19 Auburn, No. 20 Baylor, No. 21 Florida State and No. 22 Vanderbilt. Rounding out the competing teams are Furman, North Carolina, Northwestern and Virginia.
The Bulldogs were the second-highest ranked team in the field for last week's tournament in Seal Beach, Calif. The victory vaulted Georgia from No. 38 to No. 28 nationally, and Bulldogs will look to continue that ascent in Hilton Head.
"We're coming off a win at a tournament we should have won if we played well," head coach Josh Brewer said. "Now, we'll take that confidence against a field that, if you're going to play at the national championship, it's what you're going to see. We're excited and ready to prove that we're better than we're ranked. We're a much better team in March than we were in October."
Georgia also dominated the individual leaderboard in Seal Beach, Calif., last week, with four golfers posting top-10 finishes. Freshman Céleste Dao shot 7-under 209 to earn medalist honors, while freshman Catrina Don finished second, sophomore Hung placed fourth and freshman Candice Mahe tied for 10th.
Dao actually claimed the team title competing as an individual after finishing sixth in the Bulldogs' qualifying rounds for The Gold Rush.
"Celeste going from out of the lineup to winning the tournament shows the depth that we have," Brewer said. "It also shows that when you have that opportunity as an individual, you can really take advantage of it."
Dao will occupy the top spot in the Bulldogs' lineup in Hilton Head, followed by Don, Hung, Mahe and Jenny Bae. In addition, Caroline Craig will compete as an individual.
"I'm really excited about this weekend," Dao said. "The past month I've been working really hard, and I'm glad that it showed up in my results in the previous tournament. I've continued to work on the range and work on the putting green to get ready for the Darius."
Dao posted season-best scores in each round in California, improving from 1-under 71 to 2-under 70 to 4-under 68.
"(The holes) were like swimming pools," she said. "I was just draining everything from like 9-feet to 20-feet for saving par or birdies or even eagle. I wasn't scared. I was happy because it's been a long time since I've been in that zone and I finally found it back.
"The first semester, I always played for the team," Dao continued. "After, when I didn't make the team for the last tournament, Josh was like 'It's Ok.' He told me that Jillian (Hollis) missed the team once and then came back and was in the top-5 or top-3. It was just a motivation to be in a tournament and focus on only you. I guess I listened to him. For the next one, I'll do the same thing. I'm glad if it happened. It happened for a reason."
Brewer has attempted to have his golfers focus on their individual games instead of concentrating on the team's performance.
"This team, 1-10, truly cares about each other," Brewer said. "They want what's best for each other. But in golf, your teammates can't help you hit a shot or a putt. We've tried to tell them that if you take care of yourself and the team will be really happy. Will that work every week? You hope. Again, that's the part of our sport where you just continue to tweak practice plans based on each individual performance and that's going to be our motto going forward for the rest of the year – you take care of what you need to and Georgia will be where it needs to be team wise."
The Bulldogs will be paired with Vanderbilt and North Carolina for Friday's opening round, teeing off from No. 1 between 9:20-10:00 a.m. ET. Live scoring will be available here.
ATHENS, Ga. — Riding the momentum of a 23-stroke win at The Gold Rush just last week, the Georgia women's golf team will return to action this weekend. The Bulldogs will compete in the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate on Friday-Sunday at the Long Cove Club in Hilton Head, S.C.
"I was so excited and also so happy about the win," sophomore Jo Hua Hung said. "I came here (to Georgia) and for a year we didn't win any tournaments. It was amazing and if felt like your hard work paid off and showed off and allowed us to get the win. I feel like the atmosphere on the team now is really good so we just have to keep it up and take care of our own games and the result will take care of itself."
Thirteen of the top-25 teams in this week's edition of the Golfstat rankings are included in the Darius Rucker field. No. 1 Texas tops that list followed by No. 4 South Carolina, No. 6 Duke, No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 12 LSU, No. 13 Alabama, No. 14 UCLA, No. 18 Arkansas, No. 19 Auburn, No. 20 Baylor, No. 21 Florida State and No. 22 Vanderbilt. Rounding out the competing teams are Furman, North Carolina, Northwestern and Virginia.
The Bulldogs were the second-highest ranked team in the field for last week's tournament in Seal Beach, Calif. The victory vaulted Georgia from No. 38 to No. 28 nationally, and Bulldogs will look to continue that ascent in Hilton Head.
"We're coming off a win at a tournament we should have won if we played well," head coach Josh Brewer said. "Now, we'll take that confidence against a field that, if you're going to play at the national championship, it's what you're going to see. We're excited and ready to prove that we're better than we're ranked. We're a much better team in March than we were in October."
Georgia also dominated the individual leaderboard in Seal Beach, Calif., last week, with four golfers posting top-10 finishes. Freshman Céleste Dao shot 7-under 209 to earn medalist honors, while freshman Catrina Don finished second, sophomore Hung placed fourth and freshman Candice Mahe tied for 10th.
Dao actually claimed the team title competing as an individual after finishing sixth in the Bulldogs' qualifying rounds for The Gold Rush.
"Celeste going from out of the lineup to winning the tournament shows the depth that we have," Brewer said. "It also shows that when you have that opportunity as an individual, you can really take advantage of it."
Dao will occupy the top spot in the Bulldogs' lineup in Hilton Head, followed by Don, Hung, Mahe and Jenny Bae. In addition, Caroline Craig will compete as an individual.
"I'm really excited about this weekend," Dao said. "The past month I've been working really hard, and I'm glad that it showed up in my results in the previous tournament. I've continued to work on the range and work on the putting green to get ready for the Darius."
Dao posted season-best scores in each round in California, improving from 1-under 71 to 2-under 70 to 4-under 68.
"(The holes) were like swimming pools," she said. "I was just draining everything from like 9-feet to 20-feet for saving par or birdies or even eagle. I wasn't scared. I was happy because it's been a long time since I've been in that zone and I finally found it back.
"The first semester, I always played for the team," Dao continued. "After, when I didn't make the team for the last tournament, Josh was like 'It's Ok.' He told me that Jillian (Hollis) missed the team once and then came back and was in the top-5 or top-3. It was just a motivation to be in a tournament and focus on only you. I guess I listened to him. For the next one, I'll do the same thing. I'm glad if it happened. It happened for a reason."
Brewer has attempted to have his golfers focus on their individual games instead of concentrating on the team's performance.
"This team, 1-10, truly cares about each other," Brewer said. "They want what's best for each other. But in golf, your teammates can't help you hit a shot or a putt. We've tried to tell them that if you take care of yourself and the team will be really happy. Will that work every week? You hope. Again, that's the part of our sport where you just continue to tweak practice plans based on each individual performance and that's going to be our motto going forward for the rest of the year – you take care of what you need to and Georgia will be where it needs to be team wise."
The Bulldogs will be paired with Vanderbilt and North Carolina for Friday's opening round, teeing off from No. 1 between 9:20-10:00 a.m. ET. Live scoring will be available here.
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