 |
| Harris English watches his shot during the RBC Heritage. English came in 31st. |
The second-seeded Bulldogs will play Friday through Sunday on the par-70, 6,898-yard layout on the Seaside Course. Georgia is ranked No. 3 by Golfweek, No. 5 by Golf World and No. 6 by Golfstat in this week's polls.
Georgia will use a lineup of seniors Michael Cromie, Joey Garber and Keith Mitchell, sophomore Lee McCoy and freshman Greyson Sigg.
Garber is the country's No. 1-ranked player and he leads the Bulldogs with a 70.52 scoring average. McCoy, who is rated 10th, is next at 71.69, followed by Cromie's 72.27, Mitchell's 73.15 and Sigg's 73.60. Garber, Cromie and McCoy all have medalist crowns this season.
Cromie and McCoy are the only Bulldogs to play in every event this season, and that quintet was together in three previous tournaments. Mitchell will be making his third appearance at the SECs, while Garber, Cromie and McCoy all will be playing for the second time.
"We've had some intense qualifying rounds down the stretch, and that's not going to do anything but toughen us up," Georgia coach Chris Haack. "Our depth has allowed us to use a handful of lineups, and we're excited about this group and the shot that they give us at winning the SEC. Top to bottom, we've been pretty consistent this season. If we can continue playing that way, we should be in the hunt."
The Bulldogs will tee off Friday in 10-minute increments between 7:30 and 8:10 a.m. with their counterparts from No. 1 seed Alabama and No. 3 seed Vanderbilt. The Saturday and Sunday tee times will be based on the standings. Live results and tee times can be found at Golfstat.com and SECSports.com.
The SEC is as strong as ever with No. 1 Alabama, No. 15 Vanderbilt, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 21 Arkansas, No. 22 LSU and No. 24 South Carolina joining the Bulldogs in the national rankings.
"Two in the top 10 and seven in the top 25, that's pretty strong," Haack said. "But our league has always been like that. To win this tournament, you've got to get through some of the best teams in the country. Our guys respect that challenge, and it's one that they are looking forward to. There's a lot of pride in winning your conference tournament, and it shouldn't be easy to do. If you win this league, you've definitely earned it."
Georgia has been a dominant force at the SECs, winning a league-best 28 conference titles. Under Haack, the Bulldogs have secured seven SEC titles, including five of the previous 13 tournaments held at Sea Island. Georgia also boasts 15 SEC medalists, including Haack proteges Bryant Odom (2001), Brendon Todd (2004) and Russell Henley (2010).
• The Bulldogs dropped a 5-1 decision to No. 5 Georgia Tech on Saturday in the final of the Capital City Club Match Play Championship.
The Bulldogs went 1-1 on Saturday at the Crabapple Course, dispatching No. 19 Florida State 3.5-2.5 in their first match of the day.
Mitchell had the Bulldogs' lone victory against the Yellow Jackets as he topped Bo Andrews 2-up. Garber fell to Ollie Schniederjans 2-up, Cromie dropped a 4 and 3 decision to Richard Werenski, Nicholas Reach was defeated by Anders Albertson 5 and 4, McCoy lost 2 and 1 to Seth Reeves, and Sigg was knocked off by Vincent Whaley 2-up.
Against the Seminoles, Mitchell topped Joaquin Lolas 2-up, Garber defeated Jack Maguire 2 and 1, Reach beat Harry Ellis 2 and 1, and McCoy halved his match with Hank Lebioda. Sigg dropped a 1-up decision to Cristobal Del Solar and Cromie fell 5 and 4 to Rowin Caron.
• This week's PGA TOUR stop is the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. Erik Compton, Kevin Kisner and Hudson Swafford are scheduled to compete, and Justin Bolli is listed as an alternate.
• At the RBC Heritage last weekend, Brian Harman led the Bulldogs with a seventh-place finish at 6-under. Chris Kirk came in 27th at 1-under, Harris English placed 31st at even, and Kisner and Brendon Todd took 38th at 1-over. Henley missed the cut.
• The updated FedExCup Standings has Bubba Watson second, English sixth and Kirk eighth.
