Bulldogs Seeded 12th For NCAA Championships

T.J. Mitchell will wrap up his Georgia career next week in the NCAA Championships.

The Georgia men's golf team will be the No. 12 seed in the NCAA Championships next week at the Capital City Club's Crabapple Course in Alpharetta.

The Bulldogs will begin their quest for the program's third national title on Tuesday when they tee off in 10-minute increments between 1:30 and 2:10 p.m. on the first hole. Wednesday, Georgia will start on the 10th hole between 8:10 and 8:50 a.m.

Georgia will be paired Tuesday and Wednesday with No. 10 seed Florida and No. 11 seed Southern Cal. California, Alabama, UCLA and Texas are the top four seeds for the NCAAs.

Thursday's pairings will be based on the 36-hole scoring. The top eight teams after 54 holes will advance to the match play portion of the tournament. The medalist also will be crowned after the third round.

Georgia will be making its 44th appearance in the NCAAs, including its 15th in 17 years under Coach Chris Haack. The Bulldogs won the NCAA title in 1999 in Minnesota and in 2005 in Maryland. Georgia qualified for this year's NCAAs with a second-place finish in the Tempe Regional last week.

The Bulldogs are expected to use a lineup of senior T.J. Mitchell, juniors Joey Garber and Keith Mitchell, sophomore Nicholas Reach and freshman Lee McCoy.

Tickets to the NCAAs are available through tournament host Georgia Tech's ticket office (1-888-TECH-TIX or ramblinwreck.com).

Live scoring and tee times can be found daily at NCAA.com. Live web streaming will be available on NCAA.com Thursday from 3-8 p.m., Friday from 1:15-5 p.m., Saturday from 1:15-4 p.m. and Sunday from 1:15 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Bulldogs Advance To NCAA Championships

The Bulldogs were all smiles after finishing second in the Tempe Regional on Saturday.

The Georgia men's golf team advanced to the NCAA Championships by finishing second in the Tempe Regional on Saturday at the ASU Karsten Golf Course.

The NCAAs will take place May 28-June 2 at the Capital City Club's Crabapple Course in Alpharetta. 

Georgia will be making its 44th appearance at the NCAAs. The Bulldogs have advanced 15 times in 17 years under Coach Chris Haack, who led Georgia to the 1999 and 2005 national titles and to runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2011. Since the Regionals format was adopted in 1989, the Bulldogs have moved onto the NCAAs 18 times.

The Bulldogs finished the Tempe Regional with a score of 13-under 827, including a 7-under 273 on Saturday.

"We could not be happier," Haack said. "These guys did such a great job this week, especially the last two rounds when anything could happen. Our goal has been to return to the NCAAs, and we are excited that we now have that opportunity, especially with it being so close to home."

Lee McCoy finished fourth individually at 7-under 203, followed by Joey Garber in 13th at 3-under 207 and Nicholas Reach in 20th at 1-under 209. Keith Mitchell wound up at 2-over 212 and T.J. Mitchell finished at 12-over 222.

The NCAAs format consists of 54 holes of stroke play to determine the medalist and the eight teams advancing to the single-elimination match play rounds.

In other news:

With a score of 9-under, Justin Bolli came in fourth in the HP Byron Nelson Championship to pace the Bulldogs in the field. Brendon Todd and Harris English were 17th at 4-under, Brian Harman was 27th at 2-under and Erik Compton was 33rd at 1-under. Ryuji Imada did not made the cut. Bolli, Compton, English, Harman and Chris Kirk are in the field for this week's Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas.

In the Web.com Tour's BMW Charity Pro-Am, Hudson Swafford came in ninth at 19-under, followed by Kevin Kisner in 14th at 17-under. Scott Parel, Richard Scott and Paul Claxton did not make the cut. The Mexico Championship will take place this week with Claxton, Kisner, Parel, Scott and Swafford in the field.

Bulldogs Gearing Up For Tempe Regional

Joey Garber will be back in the lineup for Georgia during the Tempe Regional.

The 16th-ranked Georgia men's golf team will compete in the Tempe (Ariz.) Regional Thursday through Saturday in an attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

The Tempe Regional will be played at the ASU Karsten Golf Course. The top five teams from each of the six national regionals will advance to the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 28-June 2 at the Capital City Club's Crabapple Course in Alpharetta. 

The third-seeded Bulldogs will join a field that includes UCLA, Duke, Texas A&M, Clemson, Vanderbilt, UCF, North Carolina, Arizona State, Kennesaw State, Arizona, Austin Peay, New Mexico State and Lehigh.

Georgia is making its 24th appearance since the NCAA went to the regionals format for the 1989 season and the Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAAs 16 times in the previous 23 campaigns. Under Coach Chris Haack, the Bulldogs have been invited to 17 straight regionals, moving on to the NCAAs 14 of the previous 16 seasons.

"We are definitely looking forward to playing in the Tempe Regional," Haack said. "The field is a strong one, and we'll have to be at our best to be one of the teams to advance. As usual, there is no margin for error at this time of the season. We'll have to come into this event extremely focused."

"We all know what's on the line and we all know what it takes," junior Joey Garber said. "We just have to stay patient. There are a lot of good teams in our regional and we cannot give up any strokes. We have to play solid tee to green and not throw anything away."

Haack will use a lineup of senior T.J. Mitchell, juniors Garber and Keith Mitchell, sophomore Nicholas Reach and freshman Lee McCoy. The Tempe Regional will be Garber's first action since October as he has been sidelined following shoulder surgery.

"Getting Joey back is big for us," Haack said. "He's got a lot of experience and knows what this time of year is all about. Yes, he's coming off an injury, but he's been practicing hard and competing. If what I've seen the last few weeks is any indication, he's going to give us a boost."

The three-day forecast for Tempe shows temperatures at 100 degrees on Thursday, 95 on Friday and 92 on Saturday.

"We had to pull the shorts back out," Haack said with a laugh. "We're not going to need our rain suits or our pullovers."

In other news: 

• Harris English was 33rd, Bubba Watson was 37th and Chris Kirk was 55th in THE PLAYERS Championship on Sunday in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. Brian Harman, Russell Henley and Erik Compton missed the cut.

• The PGA TOUR stop this week is the HP Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. Scheduled to participate are Justin Bolli, Compton, English, Harman, Ryuji Imada and Brendon Todd. Todd won the rain-shortened Stadion Classic at UGA in Athens on May 5.

• Speaking of the Web.com Tour, the BMW Charity Pro-Am Presented by SYNNEX Corporation will be played this week in Greer, S.C. Paul Claxton, Kevin Kisner, Scott Parel, Richard Scott and Hudson Swafford are in the field, with Bryden Macpherson listed as an alternate.

Todd Keeps Stadion Classic Title With Bulldogs

Brendon Todd (R) and Coach Chris Haack did not mind holding the Stadion Classic at UGA
trophy in the rain on Sunday at the UGA Golf Course.

Georgia alum Brendon Todd earned his second career title Sunday when steady rains forced the cancellation of the final round of the Web.com Tour’s Stadion Classic at UGA and the tournament reverted to the 54-hole standings.

Todd, a 2007 graduate who was a four-time All-American for the Bulldogs, is the third straight Georgia alum to win the tournament joining Russell Henley from 2011 and Hudson Swafford from 2012.

“I think it has something to do with being comfortable out here,” said Todd, who helped the Bulldogs to the NCAA title in 2005. “You still have to hit all the shots but sometimes the shots are just more comfortable. I’m excited because I wanted to put my name on that list. It just makes it more special to get it done out here.”

Todd’s 2-under 69 on Saturday moved him to 8-under 205, one stroke better than playing partner Tim Wilkinson and two in front of Nick Rousey.

The University of Georgia Golf Course was deemed unplayable by tournament officials after more than 2½ inches of rain fell in the Athens area in a 24-hour period.

“I was ready to play today,” said Todd, who had not arrived at the course when he was notified of the results. “With all the rain we had and the water on the course it didn’t seem feasible that we would play. This is sweet. I don’t really care how I win.”

Saturday’s third round was played in cold and rain and Todd had a feeling that Sunday’s round was in jeopardy if the rain persisted.

“I tried to treat it like a one-day shootout,” he said following play. “I knew there wouldn’t be anything bad that could come from leading after today (Saturday).”

Todd’s winning putt turned out to be an 18-foot birdie on the par-5, 17th. Wilkinson had a chance to tie with a 12-footer but missed.

The decision to cancel the final round came mid-morning, with light rain still falling in Northeast Georgia.

“This was not a difficult decision,” said Web.com Tour Tournament Director Jim Duncan. “The course is completely unplayable. When you get a long, soaking rain like this on the clay, it basically becomes mush. There is not a tee on the golf course right now that’s playable, anywhere.”

Maintenance crews were doing their best to get the course ready but the rain proved too difficult to overcome.

“There are probably six to eight fairways that are really bad and there would be no relief,” said Duncan. “The guys would have to play it out of the water or drop it on a cart path.”

Duncan added that extending the tournament into Monday was not an option.

“The Web.com Tour regulations make it pretty clear what you can and what you can’t do,” he said. “We can’t purposely go into Monday on this Tour. You have to be able to start the round and finish it today.”

• In the PGA TOUR's Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina, Brian Harman notched a 10th-place finish at 4-under. Russell Henley was 43rd at 2-over and Chris Kirk was 50th at 3-over. Bubba Watson, Erik Compton and Justin Bolli did not make the cut.

• The Bulldogs will learn their NCAA Regional destination Monday night.

Bulldogs Featured In Stadion Classic Field

Adam Mitchell is one of the 10 Bulldogs in the Stadion Classic at UGA field.

Led by defending champion Hudson Swafford, the Web.com Tour's Stadion Classic at UGA will feature 10 former or current members of the Georgia men's golf team.

Swafford claimed medalist honors a year ago for his first victory on the Web.com Tour. He will be joined in the field this week by Paul Claxton, Ryuji Imada, Kevin Kisner, Adam Mitchell, Keith Mitchell, T.J. Mitchell, Scott Parel, Richard Scott and Brendon Todd.

"I can't help but walk around with my chest out a little bit more with pride because of all our guys in the field," said Georgia coach and director of golf Chris Haack. "It's been great spending time with all of them this week, just catching up on their lives. They all have such great memories of college, and we have laughed so much telling old stories. I really hope one of them can make another run at the title. As Kisner said, 'We need to keep it in the family.'"

A Bulldog has won each of the last two titles as Russell Henley won (as an amateur no less) in 2011 and Swafford followed in 2012.

The Stadion Classic at UGA will take place Thursday through Sunday at the UGA Golf Course. For tournament information, visit stadionclassic.uga.edu.

Here are the tee times for the Bulldogs:

• Kevin Kisner:              7:15 a.m. Thursday        12:30 p.m. Friday

• Ryuji Imada:               7:25 a.m. Thursday        12:40 p.m. Friday

• Hudson Swafford:     7:35 a.m. Thursday         12:50 p.m. Friday

• Brendon Todd:          8:05 a.m. Thursday          1:20 p.m. Friday

• Scott Parel:                8:35 a.m. Thursday          1:50 p.m. Friday

• T.J. Mitchell:              9:15 a.m. Thursday          2:30 p.m. Friday

• Richard Scott:           1:20 p.m. Thursday          8:05 a.m. Friday

• Paul Claxton:            1:40 p.m. Thursday          9:25 a.m. Friday

• Keith Mitchell:           2:20 p.m. Thursday          9:05 a.m. Friday

• Adam Mitchell:         2:40 p.m. Thursday           9:25 a.m. Friday

The PGA TOUR stop is the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C. Bulldogs in the field include Justin Bolli, Erik Compton, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk and Bubba Watson.