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| Sepp Straka and Coach Chris Haack share a laugh on Friday. |
Coach Chris Haack needed just one word to sum up the performance of his Georgia men's golf team in the first round of the NCAA Championships on Friday at Concession Golf Club.
Led by freshman Zach Healy, the 26th-seeded Bulldogs had the top score of the morning wave and the second-best effort of the day with an even-par 288. Georgia is two
shots in back of No. 4 seed Illinois, while No. 19 seed Southern Cal is third at 1-over 289, No. 24 seed San Diego State is fourth at 2-over 290 and No. 7 seed LSU is fifth at 4-over 292.
Haack was overtly relieved that his Bulldogs fared better in Friday's opening loop than they did in their most recent first round. At the NCAA San Diego Regional, Georgia began with a 19-over and stood 12th out of 13 teams. Had the Bulldogs not rallied with rounds of 10- and 3-under, they would not be playing this week at Concession.
"Getting off to a good start automatically relaxes you," Haack said. "You don't have that feeling that you're already behind the eight ball, like we did in the Regional. At the same time, we've got a couple of more rounds to go and if you let up on this course it can jump up and bite you. I hope we can keep it going and that this positive momentum stays with us."
Play will continue Saturday and Sunday with stroke play for all 30 teams. The top 15 will compete in stroke play on Monday and the individual national champion will be crowned. The low eight squads will advance to match play beginning on Tuesday to determine the team champ.
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| Zach Healy watches his tee shot on Friday. |
"I didn't make any big mistakes today," Healy said. "I knew where I wanted to hit and where I wanted to leave it. If you can do that, you can manage the course. It's a difficult course, but if you leave yourself a chance to make putts, you can be OK. But if you're in the wrong spots, you're done."
Healy is tied for fifth in the individual standings, two shots shy of Illinois' Thomas Detry and South Florida's Claudio Correa.
Senior Mookie DeMoss followed Healy with a 1-under 71, good enough for a tie for 13th. Junior Lee McCoy, named Thursday as a finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year Award, signed for a 1-over 73, and junior Sepp Straka finished at 2-over 74. Sophomore Greyson Sigg had the Bulldogs' non-counting score of 3-over 75.
Haack stressed that there is a long way to go on the course nicknamed "Concussion."
"This is one of the most difficult courses I've ever seen," Haack said. "You can't ever let up. It can really wear you out mentally. ... That being said, our guys stayed in it today. They kept their heads above water. It was nice to see all five do that today."
The Bulldogs are scheduled to play Saturday alongside UNLV and Houston with tee times running in 10-minute increments between 1:30 and 2:10 p.m. Live results can be found at GolfStat.com.
