Bulldogs To Open Spring In Puerto Rico

The Georgia men's golf team will open the spring portion of its schedule next week at the 26th Puerto Rico Classic.

The Puerto Rico Classic will take place Sunday through Tuesday at the Rio Mar Beach and Spa Resort's River Course, a par-72 track covering 6,945 yards. The 54-hole event begins Sunday with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.

Joining the Bulldogs for the tournament will be Alabama, Georgia Tech, Oklahoma, Clemson, Kentucky, Marquette, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Purdue, Middle Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Maryland, East Carolina, and UNC Greensboro.

"Every year it's a great field, it's a great tournament, and you have to play well to win," said Coach Chris Haack. "This year will be no different. There are a lot of good teams down there. We just have to go down there and see if we can make it happen."

The Bulldogs will travel senior Zach Healy, junior David Mackey, sophomores Trevor Phillips and Spencer Ralston, and freshman Davis Thompson. Junior Jack Larkin Jr. will compete in the individual tournament.

"I think we have a really good five going down there," said Mackey. "We're all starting to get our games back. I think our chemistry is the best right now that it's ever been this year. Everyone's excited and I think we're going to play well. I'm looking forward to it."

• A reminder that Haack will be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon on Saturday, Feb. 24. Tickets and sponsorships for the ceremony are available by calling (478) 752-1585. Georgia women's golf standout Terri Moody Hancock also will be inducted. She is the daughter of Griffin Moody and sister of Griff Moody, each of whom played for and captained the Bulldogs. The other members of the Class of 2018 are Champ Bailey, Arthur Blank, Tom Cousins, Tracy Rocker, Angelo Taylor and Kenny "Sky" Walker.

• Bubba Watson and Harris English are in the field for the Genesis Open in California.

• Scott Parel is playing in the Champions Tour's Chubb Classic.

5 Bulldogs To Play At Pebble Beach

• Five Bulldogs will be in action this week in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am -- Kevin Kisner, Chris Kirk, Russell Henley, Bubba Watson and Keith Mitchell.

• The Web.com Tour's stop is the Club Colombia Championship and will feature Erik Compton, Sepp Straka, Mookie DeMoss, Lee McCoy and Joey Garber. Our friends at PGATour.com caught up with Garber recently for a Q&A.

• Scott Parel is in the field for the Champions Tour's Boca Raton Championship.

• A reminder that Coach Chris Haack will be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon on Saturday, Feb. 24. Tickets and sponsorships for the ceremony are available by calling (478) 752-1585. Georgia women's golf standout Terri Moody Hancock also will be inducted. She is the daughter of Griffin Moody and sister of Griff Moody, each of whom played for and captained the Bulldogs. The other members of the Class of 2018 are Champ Bailey, Arthur Blank, Tom Cousins, Tracy Rocker, Angelo Taylor and Kenny "Sky" Walker.

• Haack's Bulldogs will kick off the 2018 portion of their schedule Feb. 18-20 in the Puerto Rico Classic.

• Based on 150,000 ratings and reviews from 92,000 golfers, GolfAdvisor.com has released its top 50 United States golf courses list, with the UGA Golf Course coming in at No. 12. That rating is a testament to the dedication and hard work put in by Matt Peterson, Scott Griffith, John Crumbley, Clint Udell, Micky Wilson, John Inglett and all of their staffers.

5 Bulldogs Not Wasting Their Time

• Five Bulldogs will be in action this week in the Waste Management Phoenix Open -- Russell Henley, Hudson Swafford, Harris English, Bubba Watson and Chris Kirk.

• Joey Garber, Lee McCoy, Sepp Straka and Erik Compton will tee it up in the Web.com Tour's Panama Championship.

• A reminder that Coach Chris Haack will be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon on Saturday, Feb. 24. Tickets and sponsorships for the ceremony are available by calling (478) 752-1585. Georgia women's golf standout Terri Moody Hancock also will be inducted. She is the daughter of Griffin Moody and sister of Griff Moody, each of whom played for and captained the Bulldogs. The other members of the Class of 2018 are Champ Bailey, Arthur Blank, Tom Cousins, Tracy Rocker, Angelo Taylor and Kenny "Sky" Walker.

• Haack's Bulldogs will kick off the 2018 portion of their schedule Feb. 18-20 in the Puerto Rico Classic.

4 Bulldogs In Farmers Insurance Open

There will be four Bulldogs in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines this week -- Harris English, Chirs Kirk, Brian Harman and Keith Mitchell.

7 Bulldogs In CareerBuilder Challenge Field

• Seven Bulldogs will be in action this week in the CareerBuilder Challenge in California -- Brian Harman, Hudson Swafford, Harris English, Kevin Kisner, Keith Mitchell, Bubba Watson and Chris Kirk. Swafford is the tournament's defending champion.

• Erik Compton, Joey Garber, Sepp Straka and Lee McCoy are scheduled to play in the Web.com Tour's The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic at The Abaco Club Sunday through Wednesday.

• The Bulldogs are a month away from resuming their 2017-18 schedule in the Puerto Rico Classic. Georgia has made a schedule adjustment, however, as the Bulldogs have withdrawn from the Querencia Cabo Collegiate in Mexico and instead will play in the Wexford Plantation Invitational Feb. 26-27.

• Jaime Lopez Rivarola will be competing this week in the Latin America Amateur Championship in Chile.

Seven Bulldogs In Action In Hawaii

Seven Bulldogs will be in action this week in the Sony Open in Hawaii -- Chris Kirk, Russell Henley, Harris English, Brian Harman, Hudson Swafford, Kevin Kisner and Keith Mitchell.

McCoy Wins Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament

CHANDLER, Ariz. --- Georgia alum Lee McCoy won the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament on Sunday to earn fully exempt status for the 2018 Web.com Tour season.

McCoy, who completed his Georgia career in 2016, edged out South Korean Sung-Jae Im by two strokes. 

“I think it was Jack Nicklaus that was famous for saying that most of the tournaments he won, he didn’t really win, other guys lost,” McCoy told PGATour.com. “That was not the case today. I had to go out there and win. We had a great battle out there today. Every time I thought I had gotten far enough ahead and could start playing conservative, he would roll in a 20-footer and it was a little frustrating at times, but it’s nice to be able to push yourself that hard in a big spot and come out on top.”

The victory was the second win of the year for McCoy, who won the Freedom 55 Financial Open on the Mackenzie Tour in June. McCoy had a successful 2017 season in Canada, making 10 cuts in 12 events and finishing No. 6 on the Order of Merit.

A year ago, McCoy competed in the First Stage of Q-School in West Palm Beach, Fla., where a 9-under total landed him in a tie for third and allowed him to advance. The week before he was slated to compete in Second Stage, McCoy made his first professional cut at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He finished the week 41st and took a red-eye back to Florida to get in a practice round before competition. On his way to the Plantation Reserve Golf Club the following morning, McCoy was involved in a minor car accident, injuring his wrist in the process. The injury left him in a cast and forced him to withdraw from Second Stage.

“It was brutal,” he said of the injury. “I was in a cast for six or seven weeks. I took it off and I was fine, so it wasn’t a career-ender or life-threatening, but it was just the worst possible timing. It hurt even more because I was playing really well going into Second Stage. At some point, you just have to sit back and realize that sometimes you don’t have control over your life and sometimes it’s just part of the plan. If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have ended up in Canada and I might not have the same guy on the bag, and I might not have even come here this week. Who knows what would’ve happened. It certainly worked out for the best in the end.”

Sunday’s victory takes a deal of pressure off McCoy heading into the 2018 season, as the Tour first-timer will be able to plan his entire schedule and won’t be subject to any reshuffles during the year.

“It kind of just goes along with my whole strategy for golf,” McCoy said, “which is just trying to take as much pressure off of myself as I can. I don’t really make goals for myself each day to try and hit a certain number and I’m not really trying to win. I kind of like to just let it happen by accident. So not having that added pressure of making the reshuffles and not knowing if I’ll be in the upcoming weeks, that’s huge. It definitely adds a level of comfort.”

Former Bulldog Joey Garber finished 30th at 15-under and will receive exempt Web.com Tour status for the first eight events of 2018.