The Georgia men’s golf team will join its league brethren this weekend for the Southeastern Conference Championship at Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course on St. Simons Island.
The 13th-ranked Bulldogs and the other 11 teams will compete today through Sunday on the par-70, 6,657-yard layout. Georgia's players will tee off with their counterparts from Florida and Auburn in 10-minute increments between 8:50 and 9:30 a.m. Live results and tee times can be found at golfstat.com.
Georgia has been a dominant force at the SECs, winning a league-best 28 conference titles. Under Coach Chris Haack, Georgia has secured seven SEC titles, including each of the last two and five of the 10 held at Sea Island.
“Every year, I think this tournament and this golf course identify the team that’s playing the best that week,” Haack said. “For some reason, we’ve had our share of success. We like the golf course. Our team has always felt the harder the golf course, the better. Everything that can come into play down there usually does, and for reason we just like that.”
Haack has repeatedly used the word “shoot-out” to describe this year’s SECs. With six conference schools ranked in the national top 15, the tournament figures to be closer than ever, he said.
“There’s always a pride factor when you go to this tournament,” the four-time SEC Coach of the Year said. “This is a tournament that we look at and mark on the calendar as goal No. 1 for us. This year, it’s not only a conference championship, but it’s also a glimpse of what the NCAAs could be like because there’s so many good teams. We just want to be in the mix coming into Sunday and give ourselves a chance.”
Haack will use a lineup of seniors Harris English, Russell Henley and Hudson Swafford, sophomore Bryden Macpherson and freshman Michael Cromie. Henley was the SEC Player of the Year and tournament medalist a year ago, while he, English and Swafford all have nine competitive rounds at the SECs under their belts.
“We have guys,” Haack said, “who know what it takes to win this tournament.”
