Bunker to Bunker-Georgia Golf Update

English, Henley, Swafford Earn All-America Honors

Hudson Swafford, Harris English, and Russell Henley

Georgia golfers Harris English, Russell Henley and Hudson Swafford — who capped their collegiate careers earlier this month — have earned All-America honors.

PING and the Golf Coaches Association of America picked English for their Second Team, with Henley and Swafford earning Honorable Mention status. Golfweek tabbed English for its Third Team and Henley was named Honorable Mention.

English led the Bulldogs with a 72.39 scoring average, while Henley was next at 72.73 and Swafford was third at 73.20. The seniors helped Georgia finish second at the NCAA Championships June 5 in Stillwater, Okla.

English and Henley ended their Georgia careers as four-time All-Americans, and Swafford was picked as an All-American three times. Collectively, they rolled up the following career numbers: 11 All-America honors, 10 All-SEC certificates, 12 medalist titles, 17 team tournament victories, two SEC Freshman of the Year awards, two SEC team titles and one National Player of the Year honor.

“Those guys were tremendous ambassadors for the golf team and for the University of Georgia on and off the course,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “They also were great leaders. They led by example with hard work and dedication. Everything they did was for the  betterment of the team. We’re going to miss them. They have left an indelible mark on our program.”

Macpherson Wins British Amateur

Bryden Macpherson becomes the second Bulldog to win the British Amateur

Georgia golfer Bryden Macpherson won the 116th British Amateur Championship on Saturday, earning spots in this year's British Open and next year's Masters in the process.

Macpherson defeated Scotland's Michael Stewart 3&2 in the final match, joining Doug Bachli (1954) as the only Australians to win the British Amateur.

The 2011 Open Championship will take place July 14-17 at Royal St. George's. The 2012 Masters will be held April 5-8 at Augusta National.

“I can’t believe it just yet," Macpherson said. "It feels pretty good to bridge the gap of 57 years. I hope there are a few proud Aussies having a barbecue. My judgment of speed was awesome today, so that was real important, but the real key to this week was patience. As hard as it was to believe, I had complete confidence that it was going to happen for me this week. I did a really good job of staying out of my own way, and celebrating everything I did well. Staying in the moment was a major key. I love the whole atmosphere of the Amateur Championship. One of the main things is the crowds: it’s amazing how much people love their golf around here. It’s a credit to them."

Macpherson, a rising junior for the Bulldogs shot 75-70 in stroke play, then posted six straight wins in match play to win the British Amateur title. Macpherson went 3-0 in match play as the Bulldogs finished second at the NCAA Championships earlier this month.

Macpherson joins Vinny Giles (1975) as the only Bulldogs to win the British Amateur.




US Open Recap

Russell Henley during the 111th U.S. Open

Russell Henley finished his second U.S. Open with a final round 75 to finish at 4 over for the day and for the tournament.  His four over total was four shots better than his score from last year, but this time he finished in a tie for 42nd place.  Henley made plenty of noise along the way, thanks in large part to a 4 under front nine on Saturday that had him in third place individually when he made the turn on his third round.  
Henley now will finish the remainder of his amateur summer as he prepares to represent the U.S. during the Walker Cup in September.  His next tournament will be the Dogwood Invitational in Atlanta starting on June 27th.


Former Bulldogs Bubba Watson and Christo Greyling also made the cut in the 111th U.S. Open.  Christo Greyling, playing in his first major championship, finished in a tie for 68th.  Greyling had to finish his second round Saturday morning and needed a couple of birdies to make the cut.  Christo birdied 3 of his last four holes to play the weekend.  Bubba Watson, the 13th ranked golfer in the world,  finished in a tie for 63rd place.  Watson will now work on defending his title at the Travels Championship this week.


Swafford Makes Professional Debut

Hudson Swafford

Hudson Swaffford made his professional golf debut this past week on the Egolf Professional Tour.  Swafford competed in the Bolle Classic in Lexington, NC and finished in a tie for 14th place while carding a four round total of 15 under par.
Swafford is playing again this week on the Egolf Professional Tour in the Cowans Ford Open.  After two rounds at the Cowans Ford Open, Hudson currently sits in third place individually.  results can be found at:
http://tarheel.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/tarheel11/event/tarheel115/contest/1/leaderboard.htm


The Southeastern Amateur

Incoming Freshman Sepp Straka

Current Bulldog Keith Mitchell and incoming Freshman Sepp Straka posted good finishes during the Southeastern Amateur played June 15-18th at Columbus Country Club in Columbus, GA.  Rising Sophomore Mitchell finished 3rd individually at 2 under for the tournament.  Straka, who will begin his first season of college golf this fall,  finished 2nd individually at 3 under par.  

The Northeast Amateur

Northeast Amateur, June 22-25

Both Bryden Macpherson and Harris English are playing this week in the Northeast Amateur.  The Northeast Amateur is one of the best field in amateur golf each summer and is being played for the 50th year this year.  You can follow the scoring live at:
http://www.northeastamateur.com/Default.aspx

Greystone Invitational

Greystone Invitational, June 23-26

Bulldogs Keith Mitchell and Brian Carter are currently competing in the tenth annual Greystone Invitational in Birmingham, Alabama.  All the scoring and results can be found on the tournament website at www.greystoneinvitational.com.  The Greystone Invitational is a four round stroke play tournament played on the Greystone Golf and Country Club's Founders Course.