ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. --- The Georgia men's golf team will join its fellow league members this weekend in the new-look Southeastern Conference Championship at the Sea Island Golf Club.
The SEC Championship will run Friday through Monday on the par-70, 6,898-yard layout on the Seaside Course. The defending champion, Georgia is ranked No. 25 by Golfstat in this week's polls.
Georgia will use a lineup of senior Greyson Sigg, sophomores Jack Larkin Jr. and Tye Waller, and freshmen Trevor Phillips and Spencer Ralston. Sigg leads the Bulldogs with a scoring average of 70.42, followed by Ralston at 71.23, Waller at 72.13, Phillips at 73.36 and Larkin at 73.91. Sigg and Waller are the only Bulldogs in the quintet with postseason experience.
Under the tournament’s new format, the Bulldogs and their conference counterparts will log 36 holes of stroke play on Friday. After an additional 18 holes of stroke play starting at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, the teams will be seeded based on standings for match play. The medalist also will be crowned after Saturday's competition. Two rounds of match play are slated for Sunday at 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. The advancing two teams will square off on Monday at 7:30 a.m.
"If you can't get excited this time of the year, there's something wrong," Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. "There's a great deal of pride attached to this one. The expectation, as always, is to win. And with this format, we're all in uncharted territory. Match play gives everybody a chance to be the champion. It's anybody's ballgame, anything can happen. Anybody can win it, so why not us?"
Georgia is slated to play Friday with Ole Miss and Missouri, with the first and second rounds beginning at 8:40 a.m. and 1:55 p.m., respectively.
Georgia has been a dominant force at the SECs, winning a league-best 29 conference titles. Under Haack, the Bulldogs have secured eight SEC titles, including six of the tournaments held at Sea Island. Georgia also boasts 16 SEC medalists, including Haack protégés Bryant Odom (2001), Brendon Todd (2004), Russell Henley (2010) and Lee McCoy (2016).
This marks the 17th year for the SECs to be contested on the Sea Island Golf Club's Seaside Course. The SEC has conducted its annual championship on St. Simons Island since 2001 (Seaside Course 2001-2007, 2010-present; Frederica Golf Club 2008-2009).
The SEC is as strong as ever with three schools ranked in the top 10 and four others in the top 25.
• Chris Kirk is the lone Bulldog in the Valero Texas Open this week,
• Chris Kirk is the lone Bulldog in the Valero Texas Open this week,
