Bulldogs, Mitchell Have Early Lead At Carpet Capital

Led by senior captain T.J. Mitchell, the 19th-ranked Georgia men's golf team grabbed the first-round lead at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Championship on Friday at The Farm Golf Club.

Playing in their season-opening tournament, the Bulldogs fired a 10-under-par 278 on Friday, paced by Mitchell's 7-under 65. Georgia will enter the second round on Saturday holding a 6-shot lead over Alabama (284).

Mitchell's 65 put him atop the leaderboard, and he has a 2-shot edge over Alabama's Bobby Wyatt. Mitchell is the lone senior on the Bulldogs' roster.

Freshman Lee McCoy made his Georgia debut on Friday by firing a 4-under 68 and is in third individually. Junior Joey Garber signed for a 1-under 71 to stand 15th. Junior Keith Mitchell followed at 2-over 74, while sophomore Nicholas Reach had the Bulldogs' non-counting score of 5-over 77.

"It was so nice to see us get off to a good start," Georgia coach Chris Haack said. "Our guys have really been dialed in during the summer, and they've been playing with a lot of confidence. We've got a long way to go this weekend and we need to keep the focus that we had today these next two rounds. T.J. was a great leader for us today. That's the perfect role for him. He was striking the ball really well today."

The Bulldogs will return to The Farm on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.. Live scoring can be found at golfstat.com.

Bulldogs to Begin Season at Carpet Capital Collegiate

The Georgia Men's Golf Team will begin the fall portion of their season today in Rocky Face, GA at The Carpet Capital Collegiate. 

The Bulldogs will be competing against 14 other teams on the Tom Fazio designed Farm Golf Club.  The five Bulldogs making the trip are Senior T.J. Mitchell, Juniors Joey Garber and Keith Mitchell, Sophomore Nick Reach, and Freshman Lee McCoy.

Teams in the field include, defending National Champion Texas, Alabama, Auburn, Chattanooga, South Carolina, Middle Tennessee State, Kennesaw State, Tennessee, North Carolina, Wake Forest, North Florida, Clemson, LSU, and host Georgia Tech.

Live scoring can be followed at www.golfstat.com

Watson, Kirk, and Harman Advance in Fed-Ex Cup Playoffs

Three Bulldogs will be in the field this week in The BMW Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana.  The top 70 in the Fed-Ex Cup standings comprise the field this week at Crooked Stick.  Since the field is only 70 players, there will not be a cut after the first two rounds.

The BMW Championship is the final event before the PGA Tour Championship played at East Lake in Atlanta.  The top 30 in the Fed-Ex Cup standing will be in the field for the Tour Championship.

Currently Bubba Watson sits in 10th place in the Fed-Ex standings.  Brian Harman has the 51st position and Chris Kirk occupies the 66th spot going into the BMW.

Play begins on Thursday and Chris Kirk will be teeing off at 12:10, Bubba Watson at 12:43, and Brian Harman at 1:05.

Live scoring can be followed at www.pgatour.com

Four Bulldogs in Fed Ex Cup Playoffs

Four former Bulldogs will join the top 121 players on the PGA Tour in the field this week at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, NY for The Barclays, the first event of the Fed-Ex Cup Playoffs.

Harris English and Brian Harman will be the first Dawgs to tee off in the first round.  Both players will start at 8:27 with English going off tee #1 and Harman going off #10.

Chris Kirk will tee off #1 at noon and Bubba Watson will start at 1:06 off #1.

Live television coverage can be viewed on The Golf Channel from 3:00-6:00 and live coverage can be followed at www.pgatour.com.

Reach and T.J. Mitchell Advance to Match Play at U.S. Amateur

Two Bulldogs have advanced to match play at The U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills Country Club.  Sophomore Nick Reach tied for 13th and Senior T.J. Mitchell tied for 51st after the two rounds of stroke play qualifying. 

T.J. Mitchell had to survive a morning playoff to gab a spot in the match play field of 64.  There were 17 players tied for 51st and Mitchell made it through the playoff thanks to a birdie on the first hole to grab the first of the 14 available spots.

Nick Reach, who shot a 36 hole total of 2 under par, will be seeded 13th for match play and face Patrick Duncan or Rancho Santa Fe, CA in the round of 64.

T.J. Mitchell, who had a 36 hole total of 2 over par, will be seeded 51st and face Taylor Gooch of Midwest City, OK in the first round.

Reach is on the top half of the match play bracket and Mitchell is on the bottom half, so they would not face each other until the final match should they advance that far.

Three current Bulldogs and one former Bulldog did not advance on to the field of 64.  Junior Joey Garber tied for 120th at 6 over par, junior Keith Mitchell tied for 162nd at 8 over par,  former Bulldog, Jack Larkin, tied for 222 at 11 over, and Sophomore Sepp Straka tied for 239th at 12 over par.

Live scoring of the matches involving Reach and Mitchell can be followed live at www.usga.org

Five Bulldogs To Tee It Up In U.S. Amateur

Five members of the Georgia men’s golf team will be in action this week in the 2012 U.S. Amateur in Aurora, Colo.

Senior T.J. Mitchell, juniors Joey Garber and Keith Mitchell, and sophomores Nicholas Reach and Sepp Straka will be a part of the 312-player field.

The participants will go through 18 holes of stroke play Monday and Tuesday, after which the field will be cut to the low 64 scores. Six rounds of match play will follow, with the champion being crowned in a 36-hole match on Sunday.

The U.S. Amateur will be played at the par-71, 7,409-yard Cherry Hills Country Club and the par-70, 7,378-yard CommonGround Golf Course.

On Monday, Reach will tee off at 9:40 a.m., T.J. Mitchell at 9:50 a.m., Garber at 10:20 a.m., Keith Mitchell at 2:35 p.m. and Straka at 2:55 p.m. Eastern.

“This is the biggest amateur event in the world, so we’re excited,” T.J. Mitchell said. “Playing this tournament before the school tournaments will be a great warm-up. We are looking forward to seeing how our games compare to all the other great players that will be there.”

“This is a great opportunity for our guys,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “We’re very proud of the five of them for making it to the U.S. Am. I know they will go out there and represent us well. To get someone to the winner’s circle would be icing on the cake.”
Live scoring can be followed at www.usga.org

Bubba at PGA Championship

The PGA Championship at The Ocean Course

Bubba began the final major of the season with a 1 over 73 that puts him in 66th place after the first round, seven shots behind leader Carl Pettersson.

Bubba is the lone Bulldog in the PGA Championship being played on The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, SC.  Bubba and his wife Angie did receive some good news this week.  The adoption of their son Caleb is now finally official after a 4 1/2 month long process. 

Bubba will be on the course in the morning wave of round 2.  He is in the feature pairing with the winners of the other two major championships this season, Ernie Els and Webb Simpson.

Live scoring can be followed at www.pgatour.com