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Bunker To Bunker Extra
May 25, 2009
Going For The Gold
Bulldogs to challenge for another NCAA title
The No. 1-ranked Georgia men’s golf team will be seeking its
third national title in 11 seasons this week at the NCAA Championship
at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.
The Bulldogs claimed national titles in 1999 and 2005 and will
be making their 12th straight appearance at the NCAAs. Georgia
will try to add to its trophy case as it plays Tuesday through
Saturday against 29 more of the nation’s best teams.
“There’s no better feeling in college golf than holding that
trophy on the last day,” said Georgia coach Chris Haack, who
is completing his 13th season. “Playing for the championship is a
great opportunity for all the teams. The change in the format this
season makes even more exciting, and we are looking forward to
seeing how everything shakes out.”
All 30 teams will play 54 holes Tuesday through Thursday,
at which time the individual national champion will be crowned.
Following 54 holes, the eight teams with the lowest scores will
advance to a single-elimination match play tournament that will
feature the quarterfinals and semifinals on Friday and the championship
match on Saturday. This will be the first since 1965 the
winner hasn’t been determined by total strokes.
“It certainly is different,” Haack said. “For the three rounds of
stroke play, all we can do is worry about our team. It’s us against
the golf course. We have to do the best we can and see how it
ends up. In match play, anything can happen.”
Haack will be using a lineup of seniors Brian Harman and
Adam Mitchell, junior Hudson Swafford, and sophomores Harris
English and Russell Henley. In two seasons, they have been
together for 20 events, including last year’s NCAAs and a total of
five victories.
The Bulldogs will tee off on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. with their
counterparts from Arizona State and UCLA. On Wednesday, the
same group will tee off at 7:20 a.m. Thursday’s third round will be
determined by placement in the field. Friday’s match play rounds
will start at 7 a.m. and 2 p.m, and the final on Saturday will begin
at 10 a.m. Tee times, pairings and live scoring from the NCAAs
can be found at golfstat.com.
In its 10 tournaments this year, Georgia went 58-11-2 against
the 29 other teams in the NCAAs. The Bulldogs also swept Texas
Tech 5-0 in match play at the UGA Golf Course in March.
The Bulldogs are making their 41st appearance at the NCAA
Championship. Georgia has advanced to the NCAAs for 12
straight seasons, including 1999 and 2005 when it won the national
title and 2007 when it came in second. George Hamer is
the only Bulldog to ever claim NCAA medalist honors, doing so
in 1946.
Georgia has won five times this year – taking titles at the
Brickyard Championship, the Isleworth Invitational, the Puerto
Rico Shootout, the Linger Longer Invitational and the Southeastern
Conference Championship. The 2001 team won six tournaments
and the 2006 squad matched that figure. With five wins
already, the 2009 Bulldogs are tied with the 1978, 1982 and 2007
teams with the second-most wins in a season.
Georgia Bulldogs Scorecard
PVBDAWG
