Dawgs Finish Season With Runner-Up Finish at NCAA's

Russell Henley during his last match as a Georgia Bulldog

Stillwater, OK --- The Georgia men's golf team's quest for a national title came up short on Sunday as Augusta State defeated the Bulldogs 3-2 in the finals of the NCAA Championships at Karsten Creek Golf Course.

The Bulldogs got victories from senior Russell Henley and sophomore Bryden Macpherson, each of whom went 3-0 in match play at the NCAAs, but were unable to garner a third decision.

"The guys fought hard and they never gave up," Georgia coach Chris Haack said. "It was a pretty tight match all the way around. I'm proud of these guys. They represented us well. The represented the `G' and everybody should be really proud of them."

Macpherson got Georgia's first point as he defeated Olle Bengtsson 6&4. After sophomore T.J. Mitchell fell to Carter Newman 7&5, Henley put Georgia back ahead with a 3&2 decision over Henrik Norlander. Senior Hudson Swafford dropped a 2&1 match to Mitchell Krywulycz, then senior Harris English fell to Patrick Reed 2&1, giving the Jaguars back-to-back NCAA titles.

"We hung in as best we could," Henley said. "Augusta State is playing really good golf right now, and we knew we'd have to play really good golf against them. We gave it a run. I'm proud of what everybody did to get us here."

Said Macpherson, "To come into the week without having really contended all year and to give it a run to the final is an effort to be proud of no matter what."

Sunday's round marked the final one for Georgia's seniors, all of whom participated in graduation ceremonies last month in Athens.

"The last four years with these guys, you can't replace it," Swafford said. "It's been a dream come true. A win today would have topped it off for sure, but being in position to win it was still awesome."

"Our seniors were very important to the team," Macpherson said. "They mean a lot to the team and the team means a lot to them. I know they're disappointed and sad, but they can be proud of this week for sure."

Click here to watch G-TV's coverage of reaction to the final match results.

Golfweek has a recap of the final match that can be viewed here.

Georgia Golfers To Play For National Championship

Harris English at No. 2 during Semifinals of Saturday's Match Play at the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship at Karsten Creek  photo by Tracy Wilcox

STILLWATER, Okla. --- Russell Henley and Chris Haack were walking down the 10th fairway at the NCAA Championships on Saturday, and the Georgia senior had a request of his coach.

"Russell looked at me and said, `You need to smile. This might be our last time together,'" Haack recalled. "I said, "No it's not. We're going to have another day together.'"

The Bulldogs were all smiles and Haack's words seemed prophetic following Saturday's semifinal match with Duke at Karsten Creek Golf Club. Georgia dispatched the Blue Devils 3-2 with wins from Henley, senior Harris English and sophomore Bryden Macpherson.

With the win, the Bulldogs advanced to Sunday's final against Augusta State. The Jaguars, the 2010 national champs, knocked off Oklahoma State 3-2 on Saturday.

"Getting here is great, but since we're here, we might as well go ahead and try to win it all," Haack said with a laugh. "That's the neat thing about match play and the reason I like this format so much. Now we can go to bed knowing we've got a chance. It's us against them. Nobody's coming out of the pack. That's the fun part of it.

"This is pretty special, having two teams from the state of Georgia in the finals. It's a big deal. Hopefully the folks back home are getting excited about this."

Sunday's final match will be played at 1 p.m. Live scoring and video will be available at NCAA.com.

"It feels really good," English said. "It's what we've been gearing up for all year. We've got three seniors (English, Henley and Hudson Swafford), and this is our final tournament. Having this opportunity really means a lot to us."

"This is the closest we've been to winning a national title," Henley said. "You're gunning for it every year, but this is the closest we've been. We're going to try to enjoy it. A lot of people may get tight, but tomorrow is my last day ever playing college golf, so I'm going to enjoy it."

Macpherson got the Bulldogs' first win as he knocked off Austin Cody 2&1. English followed with a 5&4 decision over Brinson Paolini. Henley closed the match with a 3&2 victory over Tim Gornick.

In the other matches, Duke's Julian Suri topped sophomore T.J. Mitchell 3&2, while Duke's Wes Roach defeated Swafford 2&1.

"There's a lot of excitement on our team," Macpherson said. "We're very happy to be in the position we are. We came in with no pressure. We're just playing golf and things are going the way we planned so far. We're going to keep doing what we're doing, have fun, play the best we can and give it everything we've got."

Haack said Sunday's key could be the leadership provided by the seniors, who are 4-1-1 in the NCAAs thus far.

"Tomorrow is going to be pretty sentimental with those guys," Haack said. "It's been great having them in the lineup. They've been a force for us the last four years. This is what your horses are meant to do - get out there and run for us."


Golfweek has full coverage of all the highlights from the NCAA Championship.  Click here to watch a preview of the final match between the Dawgs and Augusta State.

Dawgs in Final Four at NCAA's

The men's golf team will be one of four teams left with a chance to play for the national championship,  thanks to a quarterfinal win vs Illinois. 

The Dawgs were victorious in 3 matches while losing 1 match and halving 1 match.

Bryden Macpherson defeated Mason Jacobs      2&1
Russell Henley defeated Scott Langley                4&2
Harris English defeated Luke Guthrie                  3&2
Hudson Swafford halved with Chris DeForest     A/S
T.J. Mitchell was defeated by Thomas Pieters     1 down

The Dawgs will now square off against Duke in the semifinals on Saturday.  This will mark the second time the Bulldogs have made an appearance in the final four since the national championship was moved to match play, doing so in 2009.

All the action can be followed live on NCAA.com.

Bulldogs Advance To Match Play At NCAA Championships

The Georgia men's golf team accomplished its first goal on Thursday in the stroke play portion of the NCAA Championships. The quest for the second goal begins on Friday.

Needing a top-8 effort to advance to match play, the 12th-seeded Bulldogs finished fifth with a total of 20-over-par 884. Georgia capped stroke play with a final-round 17-over 305, its highest figure of the three-day event at Karsten Creek Golf Club.

"It was a struggle today," Georgia coach Chris Haack said. "It's just a tough golf course, and it was one of those days where you try to hold on and survive. I was proud of the guys for staying with it. Nobody got down and they fought through it, so it turned out OK."

With the fifth-place finish, Georgia advanced to match play where it will play fourth-place Illinois. The Bulldogs and the Illini will tee off on Friday at 11:45 a.m. The other pairings for match play are No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 8 Duke, No. 2 Georgia Tech vs. No. 7 Augusta State and No. 3 Oklahoma State vs. No. 6 Ohio State. The winners will advance to Saturday, and the team champion will be crowned on Sunday.

Illinois and Oklahoma State finished tied for third in stroke play, and the Cowboys wound up No. 3 and the Illini No. 4 in the bracket based on the cumulative drop score (plus-16 for Oklahoma State, plus-26 for Illinois).

"Now, anything goes," Haack said. "It doesn't matter who you play; you just have to get ready and go hit them. Every team that made it to match play is good. Any team we play from here on out is going to be a formidable opponent. I just hope we can bring our best stuff."

Sophomore T.J. Mitchell paced the Bulldogs on Thursday with a 3-over 75. Senior Harris English and sophomore Bryden Macpherson each added a 4-over 76, while senior Hudson Swafford signed for a 6-over 78 and senior Russell Henley had a 7-over 79.

English finished 10th in the individual standings with a total of 1-over 217. Medalist honors went to LSU's John Peterson at 5-under 211. Swafford wound up at 7-over 223, followed by Henley at 11-over 227, Macpherson at 13-over 229 and Mitchell at 14-over 230.

Georgia has logged just two match play rounds at the NCAAs, both coming in 2009 at Inverness Club in Ohio. The Bulldogs dispatched Oklahoma State in a memorable first-round pairing, then lost to Arkansas in the second round. English, Henley and Swafford all were in the lineup for Georgia that season.

Asked if he likes his team in the match play format: "I like my team in anything, so yeah. Why not us?"


Live coverage can be found at www.ncaa.com

Dawgs Move Up To Fourth, English Sits In Third

Senior Harris English is the low Buldog at the NCAA Championship, currently tied for 3rd

On the strength of the second-lowest round of the day, the Georgia men's golf team improved to fourth place at the NCAA Championships on Wednesday at Karsten Creek Golf Club.

The Bulldogs shot an even-par 288, bettered only by Illinois' 1-under 287, and stand at 3-over 579 through 36 holes. Georgia is six shots behind tournament leader Georgia Tech, and, perhaps more importantly, 11 shots better than eighth-place teams Texas A&M and Ohio State. After Thursday's round, the top eight teams will move onto match play to determine the national champion.

"We knew coming out here, it would take three good rounds," Georgia coach Chris Haack said. "You just can't make any mistakes. We've got two in the books and one more to go. We've got to go out and play solid and keep the same mindset. We've got to play the golf course as it comes. I want us to do what we've been doing: hit the fairways and the greens and stay out of trouble as much as you can. It feels good to be in the hunt. We're in a position to kind of control our own destiny, and that's where we want to be."

Senior Harris English and sophomore Bryden Macpherson paced the Bulldogs with 1-under 71s on Wednesday. Senior Russell Henley added an even-par 72, while senior Hudson Swafford signed for a 2-over 74. Sophomore T.J. Mitchell had the Bulldogs' non-counting score of 9-over 81.

English improved to 3-under 141, two shots behind John Peterson of LSU. English is vying to join George Hamer (1946) as the only Bulldogs to capture medalist honors at the NCAAs. Ex-Bulldogs Ryuji Imada and Chris Kirk had NCAA runner-up efforts. The 2011 champion will be crowned following Thursday's round.

Also Wednesday, Swafford moved to 1-over 145, followed by Henley at 4-over 148, Macpherson at 9-over 153 and Mitchell at 11-over 155.

"We're definitely moving in the right direction," Macpherson said. "We've gotten off to a good start this week, and we can build on that. It's feeling really good here. If we just have some fun, I think it all will fall into place."

Swafford's round included a rarity as he and his playing partners -- LSU's Ken Looper and Texas' Toni Hakula -- all made eagles on the par-5, 570-yard 14th hole. Said Swafford, "That's pretty crazy. I don't think I've ever heard of that or seen that. I'm just glad I could be a part of it because it helped me."

The Bulldogs will tee off in the final round in 10-minute increments between 1:20 and 2 p.m. with their counterparts from Alabama and Oklahoma State. The weather forecast for Stillwater on Thursday calls for a high of 94 degrees with wind gusts reaching 20 miles per hour. Live scoring can be found at ncaa.com.

In other news, English, Henley and Swafford have been named to the All-Southeast Region by the Golf Coaches Association of America. Also, the Southern Golf Association announced Wednesday that Henley, on the heels of his victory in the Nationwide Tour's Stadion Classic at UGA, has been chosen as the National Amateur of the Month for May. Henley became just the second amateur to win a Nationwide Tour event.