Bulldogs Playing In Nike Invite Next Week

The Georgia men's golf team will be back in action Sunday through Tuesday in the Nike Invitational at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon. The Bulldogs will be joined by Washington, Oregon, Southern Cal, Oklahoma, TCU, Duke, Ohio State, Oklahoma State and Arizona.

• The Bulldogs came in fourth in the stroke play portion of the DICK'S Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup. The Bulldogs fired a final-round 4-over 288 at the Golf Club of Tennessee to land at 8-over 860. Vanderbilt took top honors at 3-under 849, topping Virginia in a sudden-death playoff. Zach Healy finished 16th at 2-over 215, 10 shots in back of Alabama's Robby Shelton (8-under 205). Lee McCoy followed at 3-over 216, while Greyson Sigg came in at 4-over 217, Sepp Straka wound up at 5-over 218 and Jaime Lopez Rivarola had a 12-over 225.

In the match play portion, McCoy won his match and Lopez Rivarola squared his as Georgia went 1.5-3.5 against Florida State. The ACC nipped the SEC 15.5-14.5 to retain the Challenge Cup. The ACC leads the series with the SEC 2-1.

• Bubba Watson was the top Bulldog at the Tour Championship, coming in fifth at 4-under. Harris English took 22nd at 5-over and Kevin Kisner placed 28th at 18-over.

• Keith Mitchell had his largest payday as a professional, pocketing more than $15,000 in the PGA Tour's Latinoamerica Aberto do Brasil. Mitchell and Kent Bulle were topped by Alexandre Rocha in a playoff that last seven holes.

3 Bulldogs In Final 29 At Tour Championship

• The FedExCup Playoffs will conclude this week with the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. The top 29 players (down from 30 after Jim Furyk withdrew Tuesday) are in the field, including Bulldogs Harris English, Kevin Kisner and Bubba Watson. English will tee off at 11:40 a.m. on Thursday, followed by Kisner at 12:40 p.m. and Watson at 1:40 p.m.

Erik Compton acknowledges the Sanford Stadium crowd.

• The Bulldogs will return to action Friday through Sunday in the DICK'S Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup in Kingston Springs, Tenn. Georgia, which won the inaugural event in 2014, will use a lineup of seniors Lee McCoy and Sepp Straka, juniors Jaime Lopez Rivarola and Greyson Sigg, and sophomore Zach Healy.

• Erik Compton was recognized at last Saturday's football game between Georgia and South Carolina. The two-time heart transplant recipient has partnered with Donate Life America and Genentech on the “Play Through with Erik Compton” campaign to raise awareness of organ donations and urge fans to become organ donors. For more information, visit donatelife.net.

John Tillery, Scott Brown, David Robinson and Skip Evans.

• Thanks to everyone who participated in the 17th annual Bulldog Open last week at the UGA Golf Course. Our program has reached national elite status due to everyone who is involved with the Tee-Off Club. The overall (and afternoon) winners were Skip Evans, Scott Brown, David Robinson and John Tillery. David Guhde, Chris Maxwell, Chase Young and Willis Dobbs won the morning flight. The runner-up teams were Kevin Shields, Michael Murphree, Scott Spayed and Trent Harrell in the morning and Tom Dudley, Charlie Land, Jimmy Rigsby and Johnny McGoogan in the afternoon. The closest to the hole winners were Clem McDavid (3), Palmer Bush (8), Bonneau Ansley (13) and David Robinson (16).

• Reminder that The Golf Lettermen's Four Ball Tournament will be held Friday, Oct. 2, at the UGA Golf Course. Contact Denise at dsaliba@sports.uga.edu or 706-369-6066 for more information.

• Vinny Giles, Jack Hall and John Gibbs will be competing this week in the U.S. Senior Amateur in New Jersey.

McCoy, Team USA To Play For The Walker Cup

Georgia's Lee McCoy and his United States teammates will be playing this weekend for the Walker Cup at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club in Lancashire, England.

Play will begin Saturday at 4 a.m. EDT (9 a.m. local) with foursomes, followed by singles at 8:45 a.m. EDT (1:45 p.m. local). Sunday's singles will be at 3:30/8:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m./1:15 p.m.

Matches will be aired on ESPN3/WatchESPN at 9 a.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

The Walker Cup is contested by male amateur golfers, one team from the United States and one team comprised of players from England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This is the 45th Walker Cup match. The U.S. leads the overall series 35-8-1.

McCoy, a senior from Clarkesville, Ga., had one of the most celebrated campaigns in school history a year ago. He earned First-Team All-America and All-SEC honors in leading the Bulldogs to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship. McCoy set the single-season scoring average (70.08), matched the single-season record with four victories, and became the first Bulldog in school history to win three straight tournaments. He appeared in three professional events this summer – the U.S. Open, the Travelers Championship and the John Deere Classic, making the cut in the latter. McCoy also helped the U.S. win the Palmer Cup and finish second in the inaugural golf portion of the Pan Am Games.

McCoy joins George Hamer, Arnold Blum, Vinny Giles, Allen Miller, Jimmy Gabrielsen, Griff Moody, Danny Yates, Franklin Langham, Nick Cassini, Erik Compton, Brian Harman, Chris Kirk, Adam Mitchell, Harris English and Russell Henley as Bulldogs chosen for the Walker Cup. Giles, Gabrielsen and Yates also have served as U.S. captains.

Sigg First, Bulldogs Second In The Carmel Cup

Greyson Sigg shows off his award after winning The Carmel Cup on Sunday.

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Greyson Sigg made par on the first playoff hole to claim medalist honors at The Carmel Cup on Sunday at Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Sigg, a junior from Augusta, posted his first collegiate victory. He ended regulation tied with Hannes Ronneblad of Texas Tech and Matthias Schwab of Vanderbilt at 2-under 214. Sigg made par on the extra hole, while Ronneblad and Schwab each made bogey.

Sigg helped the Bulldogs come in second in the team race at 1-over 1,081 — six shots in back of Oklahoma State (1,075).

Junior Sepp Straka followed Sigg in 10th place at 1-over 217, while junior Jaime Lopez Rivarola and sophomore Zach Healy took 16th at 2-over 218. Redshirt freshman Jack Larkin Jr. wound up at 7-over 223 and freshman David Mackey finished at 10-over 226.

"We could not be prouder of Greyson," Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. "He's worked very hard to get to this point. He's been a very steady player for us the last couple of years, so it's nice to see him break through and get one. Our guys were pretty solid all weekend. We had a lot of positive moments and we can build on that success moving forward."

The Bulldogs will return to action Sept. 25-27 in the DICK'S Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup in Kingston Springs, Tenn.

Watson, Kirk To Play In The Presidents Cup

• Two Bulldogs — Bubba Watson and Chris Kirk — will be playing for the United States in the Presidents Cup in South Korea Oct. 8-11. Watson played in the match in 2011, going 3-2, and Kirk will be making his debut.

The team is made up of the U.S. players who earned the most official FedExCup points, beginning with the 2013 BMW Championship through the 2015 Deutsche Bank Championship, with points earned in 2015 doubled. 

The rest of the U.S. team will be Jordan Spieth, Jimmy Walker, Zach Johnson, Jim Furyk, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar. The International Team also includes Jason Day, Louis Oosthuizen, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, Branden Grace, Marc Leishman, Anirban Lahiri, Charl Schwartzel, Thongchai Jaidee and Danny Lee.

• The FedExCup Playoffs will continue next week at the BMW Championship in Illinois. The top 70 players are alive in the Playoffs, including No. 5 Bubba Watson, No. 15 Kevin Kisner, No. 32 Harris English, No. 37 Chris Kirk, No. 48 Brendon Todd, No. 50 Brian Harman and No. 58 Russell Henley. After the BMW Championship, the top 30 will advance to the season-ending Tour Championship.

Bulldogs To Open Season At The Carmel Cup

Front row, L to R, Greyson Sigg, Zach Healy and Jack Larkin Jr. Back row, L to R, Lee McCoy, Matthew Beringer, Sepp Straka, David Mackey and Jaime Lopez Rivarola.

The 12th-ranked Georgia men's golf team will kick off the fall portion of the 2015-16 schedule this weekend as it tries to defend its title in The Carmel Cup in Pebble Beach, Calif.

Coach Chris Haack will open his 20th season in Athens with a lineup of senior Sepp Straka, juniors Jaime Lopez Rivarola and Greyson Sigg, sophomore Zach Healy, redshirt freshman Jack Larkin Jr. and true freshman David Mackey. The tournament format consists of six players with five counting (as opposed to the typical five players with four counting).

Notably absent from the lineup is senior All-American Lee McCoy, who is en route to England to compete for the United States Walker Cup Team. Team USA will meet its amateur counterparts from Great Britain and Ireland Sept. 12-13 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes Golf Club.

The Bulldogs, who reached the “Final Fore” at the 2015 NCAA Championships just three months ago, will begin the season with 54 holes on the Pebble Beach Links Friday through Sunday. Joining the Bulldogs will be Arkansas, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, TCU, Texas Tech and Vanderbilt. Tee times and live scoring can be found at GolfStat.com.

Straka, Sigg, Healy and McCoy are fourth-fifths of the lineup that made a memorable run at last year’s NCAAs, reaching the semifinals despite being seeded 28th out of 30 entering the tournament. The Bulldogs won three events in 2014-15, including The Carmel Cup, and finished in the top 5 in 10 of their 14 tournaments.

McCoy paced Georgia a year ago with the single-season scoring record of 70.08 and earned First-Team All-America and All-SEC honors. Sigg and Healy (an Honorable Mention All-American) followed at 72.81 and 72.82, respectively.

“We’re always excited to get the season under way and getting to do so at Pebble Beach pushes that even higher,” Haack said. “This is one of the most famous facilities in golf and our guys are honored to get to play there. I’m looking forward to seeing how we perform this week. Every team has to create its identity and chemistry and that starts here. We have a mixture of experience and inexperience, so we need our veterans to show the ropes to the new guys.”

The Bulldogs will tee off at 11:10 a.m. on Friday with their counterparts from Vanderbilt, Texas Tech and Oklahoma.