MEN Oct. 10, 2010
MACON, Ga. --- The Georgia men's golf team enjoyed a record-setting day in winning the Brickyard Collegiate Championship on Sunday.
Led by Macon native Russell Henley's medalist honors at The Brickyard at Riverside, the No. 6 Bulldogs held on to win the team title by one shot over Augusta State. Georgia fired a 2-under-par 286 Sunday to wind up at 7-under 857. Augusta State's blistering 13-under 275 made things interesting as the Jaguars finished at 6-under 858.
Henley posted a four-shot victory as he wound up at 10-under 206, including a 4-under 68 in the final round. The win was the seventh of Henley's career, matching the school record set by Chris Kirk. Henley also claimed the Brickyard title in 2009.
"I am never surprised at anything Russell does because we expect him to win every tournament by 10 shots," Georgia coach Chris Haack said with a laugh. "We felt like coming in he would play well at home, and I'm glad he did that. We want him to enjoy his senior season, and the best way to do that is to help your team win titles. We are very proud of Russell."
For Haack, the victory was the 45th of his career, breaking the tie of 44 he shared with Hall-of-Famer Dick Copas for the program's benchmark. Haack has led the Bulldogs to at least one victory in 13 of his 15 seasons, including two NCAA and seven SEC titles.
"To be mentioned in the same sentence as Dick Copas is a tremendous honor," Haack said. "He and Howell Hollis are the reasons Georgia golf has a strong foundation. Plus, all of these victories are a result of the great players and assistants we've had here. This is a record I share with all of them. I just appreciate them taking me along for the ride."
On Sunday, the Bulldogs also counted a 2-under 70 from freshman Keith Mitchell and 2-over 74s by senior Harris English and sophomore T.J. Mitchell. Senior Hudson Swafford had the Bulldogs' non-counting figure of 5-over 77.
English came in 12th at 2-under 214 and Swafford placed 18th at 1-over 217. T.J. Mitchell wound up at 11-over 227, followed by Keith Mitchell at 13-over 229. Playing as individuals, sophomore Scott McAlpine finished at 14-over 230 and senior Rob Bennett came in at 15-over 231.
The Bulldogs will conclude the fall portion of their schedule Oct. 24-26 in the Isleworth Invitational in Windermere, Fla.
WOMEN Oct. 10, 2010
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- Junior Marta Silva Zamora fired a career-low 6-under 66 to finish at 9-under 207 and fourth individually at the Tar Heel Invitational on Sunday. Sixth-ranked Georgia tied for eighth in the team field at 10-over 874.
The Bulldogs posted a 3-over 291 at UNC's Finley Golf Course on Sunday, counting Silva Zamora's 66, a 74 from Emilie Burger, 75 from Amelia Hill and a 76 from Milena Savich.
"I was proud of them today," head coach Kelley Hester said. "Obviously Marta had a terrific day, but I think this was the first time all year we have everyone else struggle. I'll give it to them, the fought through it and turned in a pretty good (team) score. We were 3-over after the first hole and played the rest of the way at even.
"We feel like we didn't have our best week," Hester continued. "I certainly don't think we played bad, but we didn't play our best. A top-10 finish in a field like this is something you can't feel bad about."
No. 1 Alabama completed its wire-to-wire team win by finishing at 28-under 836. Rounding out the top-10 teams were No. 4 LSU at 848, No. 3 Duke at 851, No. 10 Virginia at 862, No. 11 North Carolina at 866, No. 16 Michigan State at 870, No. 14 Tulane at 872, the Bulldogs and No. 7 Vanderbilt at 874 and No. 15 Wake Forest at 876.
Alabama's Brooke Pancake topped LSU's Megan McChrystal in a playoff for medalist honors after they both finished at 11-under 205. In addition to Silva Zamora, for Georgia Burger tied for 42nd at 221, Savich tied for 51st at 223, Kendall Wright tied for 61st at 226 and Hill tied for 85th at 234.
Silva Zamora teed off from No. 6 with a shotgun start on Sunday and quickly birdied No. 7 and No. 8. After a quartet of pars, she birdied No. 13 and No. 14 and then No. 16 and No. 17 to move to 6-under. Following her only bogey of the day at No. 1, Silva Zamora closed her loop with a birdie at No. 5.
Silva Zamora's 66 equaled the second-best round in Georgia history, a stroke shy of the 66 Vicki Goetze posted in the final round of the 1992 NCAA Championships. Silva Zamora's 9-under tournament score is the third-best in Bulldog annals. Silva Zamora is now a combined 17-under through three 54-hole events this fall, and she now owns eight of the top 35 low individual tournament scores in Georgia history.
Georgia will wrap up the fall portion of its campaign next month when the Bulldogs compete in the PAC-10 SEC Challenge at Stanford on Nov. 5-7
