University of Georgia Athletics
Haack Proud To Pass Baton To DeMoss
February 23, 2026 | Men's Golf, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
As he sat in his office at the Boyd Golf Center on Monday morning, the shelves and walls all around him adorned with photos and mementos from his 30 years as Georgia men's golf head coach, Chris Haack's cell phone rang. The ringtone: "Who Let the Dogs Out."
Calling him was one of his former players, Greyson Sigg, who is also his son-in-law. Sigg is married to Haack's daughter Katie, and they have one of Haack and his wife Ronda's six, soon to be seven, grandchildren.
"Greyson's a great kid, and he and my daughter just had their first baby about nine months ago," Haack said with a big smile. "Things change; life goes on."
And change is coming to the program that Haack has led since he was named the head coach on July 18, 1996. Last Friday, in a move that had been in the works for a while, Georgia announced that Haack will be retiring after this spring season.
"I've gotten a lot of phone calls, a lot of texts, and a lot of emails" since the announcement, Haack said. "I've heard a lot of great stories over the past few days, and it's been very emotional — a roller coaster for me."
Second-year assistant coach Mookie DeMoss, who was the captain of the Georgia team that reached the semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Championships, will take over as head coach in July.
"It's pretty surreal, I would say, especially growing up an hour up the road and being a fan of Coach Haack and the UGA golf program," said DeMoss, from Duluth, Ga. "I wanted to play golf here as a kid growing up, and now I'm stepping in after Coach Haack. It's all pretty surreal, for sure."
Georgia has long had a very good program, but Haack took it to new heights. He led the Bulldogs to the NCAA team title in 1999 and 2005, and his teams won eight SEC championships, had nine top-10 finishes at the NCAAs, and 70 players were named All-America a combined 119 times. Many of those players have gone on to great success as professionals, highlighted by Bubba Watson's two Masters wins and Brian Harman's Open Championship victory. At the 2025 Ryder Cup, former Bulldogs Russell Henley and Harris English played for the U.S. squad, which had another Bulldog, Kevin Kisner, as a vice-captain, and Sepp Straka played for the victorious European team.
But more than the wins and great moments on the golf course, it's the people he coached and worked with over the past 30 years that mean the most to Haack.
"There are a lot of points of pride. We did a lot of cool things, won the NCAAs a couple of times, and a lot of great players came through here and then went on to great futures," Haack said. "I'm just real proud of everything we did. ... This game and coaching have just been an avenue to meet and become friends with so many people over the last 30 years.
"When it's all said and done, that's truly what it's really all about. That's what probably means the most to me, all the friendships that I've made and the connections and relationships that I've built — that makes it all worthwhile."
So far in 2025-26, the Bulldogs have won one tournament, the Hamptons Intercollegiate in October, placed in the top 10 four times, and they hit the road again soon for the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, starting March 1. Senior Carter Loflin won the Hamptons Intercollegiate individual title, and freshman JD Culbreth shot a program-record 61 in the second round of the Ka'anapali Classic in Maui, Hawaii, in the fall.
Not only is there a lot of talent on the roster now, Georgia also signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country with 2025 U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell, U.S. Junior Amateur champion Hamilton Coleman, and junior standout Drew Woolworth set to join the program in the fall. Haack said he contemplated returning for another year, but he felt like this was the right time to step away. He will remain involved with the program in 2026-27 as a special advisor.
"One of the driving themes that I've always had in my coaching career was leave it better than you found it," he said. "I know that I will be leaving it in really good hands with Mookie, and with a roster full of studs that should bode well for the program for a long time."
Haack's way of doing things covers not only mental and physical preparation for the next shot and the next round, DeMoss said, but also how to be a good teammate and representative of the University of Georgia.
"I remember the team retreats, when he would open up his binder and go through all of the team expectations and team rules. There were things like manners and leaving a place better than we found it," DeMoss said. "If we were staying in someone's home, we had to make the bed and leave everything just right.
"He's a very meticulous details guy when it comes to things like that. If we were at a host family's home, he would walk through afterward and check on everything. If he found a thread or a piece of lint or a small piece of trash, it was a big deal. Just seeing how he treats people and always has time for people, no matter what, that really stands out."
DeMoss spent four years playing for Haack and the past two working with him as his assistant. It goes without saying, he's learned plenty from his coach, friend and mentor over the years.
"Each coach I've had, whether it was golf or basketball or my grandfather, who coached high school football, has had an impact on my life," DeMoss said. "There's something about a coach bringing a team together and the impact that they can have, and obviously, these college years are such formative years. Coach Haack's positive mindset and his belief, I think that shaped me in so many ways.
"I would say there is a ton of what he's done here that is going to basically be copy-and-paste from his playbook. His system and his way of doing things have proven to help guys be successful here and at the next level."
Staff Writer
As he sat in his office at the Boyd Golf Center on Monday morning, the shelves and walls all around him adorned with photos and mementos from his 30 years as Georgia men's golf head coach, Chris Haack's cell phone rang. The ringtone: "Who Let the Dogs Out."
Calling him was one of his former players, Greyson Sigg, who is also his son-in-law. Sigg is married to Haack's daughter Katie, and they have one of Haack and his wife Ronda's six, soon to be seven, grandchildren.
"Greyson's a great kid, and he and my daughter just had their first baby about nine months ago," Haack said with a big smile. "Things change; life goes on."
And change is coming to the program that Haack has led since he was named the head coach on July 18, 1996. Last Friday, in a move that had been in the works for a while, Georgia announced that Haack will be retiring after this spring season.
"I've gotten a lot of phone calls, a lot of texts, and a lot of emails" since the announcement, Haack said. "I've heard a lot of great stories over the past few days, and it's been very emotional — a roller coaster for me."
Second-year assistant coach Mookie DeMoss, who was the captain of the Georgia team that reached the semifinals of the 2015 NCAA Championships, will take over as head coach in July.
"It's pretty surreal, I would say, especially growing up an hour up the road and being a fan of Coach Haack and the UGA golf program," said DeMoss, from Duluth, Ga. "I wanted to play golf here as a kid growing up, and now I'm stepping in after Coach Haack. It's all pretty surreal, for sure."
Georgia has long had a very good program, but Haack took it to new heights. He led the Bulldogs to the NCAA team title in 1999 and 2005, and his teams won eight SEC championships, had nine top-10 finishes at the NCAAs, and 70 players were named All-America a combined 119 times. Many of those players have gone on to great success as professionals, highlighted by Bubba Watson's two Masters wins and Brian Harman's Open Championship victory. At the 2025 Ryder Cup, former Bulldogs Russell Henley and Harris English played for the U.S. squad, which had another Bulldog, Kevin Kisner, as a vice-captain, and Sepp Straka played for the victorious European team.
But more than the wins and great moments on the golf course, it's the people he coached and worked with over the past 30 years that mean the most to Haack.
"There are a lot of points of pride. We did a lot of cool things, won the NCAAs a couple of times, and a lot of great players came through here and then went on to great futures," Haack said. "I'm just real proud of everything we did. ... This game and coaching have just been an avenue to meet and become friends with so many people over the last 30 years.
"When it's all said and done, that's truly what it's really all about. That's what probably means the most to me, all the friendships that I've made and the connections and relationships that I've built — that makes it all worthwhile."
So far in 2025-26, the Bulldogs have won one tournament, the Hamptons Intercollegiate in October, placed in the top 10 four times, and they hit the road again soon for the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, starting March 1. Senior Carter Loflin won the Hamptons Intercollegiate individual title, and freshman JD Culbreth shot a program-record 61 in the second round of the Ka'anapali Classic in Maui, Hawaii, in the fall.
Not only is there a lot of talent on the roster now, Georgia also signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country with 2025 U.S. Amateur champion Mason Howell, U.S. Junior Amateur champion Hamilton Coleman, and junior standout Drew Woolworth set to join the program in the fall. Haack said he contemplated returning for another year, but he felt like this was the right time to step away. He will remain involved with the program in 2026-27 as a special advisor.
"One of the driving themes that I've always had in my coaching career was leave it better than you found it," he said. "I know that I will be leaving it in really good hands with Mookie, and with a roster full of studs that should bode well for the program for a long time."
Haack's way of doing things covers not only mental and physical preparation for the next shot and the next round, DeMoss said, but also how to be a good teammate and representative of the University of Georgia.
"I remember the team retreats, when he would open up his binder and go through all of the team expectations and team rules. There were things like manners and leaving a place better than we found it," DeMoss said. "If we were staying in someone's home, we had to make the bed and leave everything just right.
"He's a very meticulous details guy when it comes to things like that. If we were at a host family's home, he would walk through afterward and check on everything. If he found a thread or a piece of lint or a small piece of trash, it was a big deal. Just seeing how he treats people and always has time for people, no matter what, that really stands out."
DeMoss spent four years playing for Haack and the past two working with him as his assistant. It goes without saying, he's learned plenty from his coach, friend and mentor over the years.
"Each coach I've had, whether it was golf or basketball or my grandfather, who coached high school football, has had an impact on my life," DeMoss said. "There's something about a coach bringing a team together and the impact that they can have, and obviously, these college years are such formative years. Coach Haack's positive mindset and his belief, I think that shaped me in so many ways.
"I would say there is a ton of what he's done here that is going to basically be copy-and-paste from his playbook. His system and his way of doing things have proven to help guys be successful here and at the next level."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files.
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