News & Notes About The Bulldogs

Sophomore Spencer Ralston has been named to the PING All-Southeast Region Team by the Golf Coaches Association of America. Ralston finished the season with a scoring average of 70.86, trailing only Lee McCoy’s 70.00 in 2016, McCoy’s 70.08 in 2015, Greyson Sigg’s 70.50 in 2017 and Joey Garber’s 70.69 in 2014 in program history. Ralston had seven top-10 finishes in 12 tournaments.

• Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Keith Mitchell and Bubba Watson will tee it up in the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide in Dublin, Ohio.

• Erik Compton, Joey Garber, Lee McCoy, Sepp Straka and Brendon Todd will be playing in the Web.com Tour's Rex Hospital Open in Raleigh, N.C.

• Greyson Sigg will be in action in the Mackenzie Tour's Freedom 55 Financial Open in Vancouver, British Columbia.

News & Notes About The Bulldogs

Georgia signee Trent Phillips recently was named one of the recipients of the 2018 Byron Nelson International Junior Golf Award. Phillips is the younger brother of current Bulldog Trevor Phillips.

Trent is an American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) First Team All-American, with an AJGA third-place ranking, and is ranked fifth in Golfweek. He is a two-time South Carolina junior player of the year and also winner of the South Carolina Junior Golf Association Players Championships in 2016. He was the Dustin Johnson World Junior Champion in 2017, and is a three-time high school champion. He is a South Carolina Junior Scholar as well as a member of National Beta Club and National Honor Society.

• Harris English, Brian Harman, Kevin Kisner, Russell Henley and Chris Kirk will be in action this week in the PGA Tour's Fort Worth Invitational. Kisner won at Colonial last year, while Kirk won there in 2015.

• Lee McCoy, Sepp Straka and Joey Garber will tee it up in the Web.com Tour's Nashville Golf Open Benefitting the Snedeker Foundation.

• Scott Parel, Tommy Tolles and Paul Claxton are playing in the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship.

• Only a few spots remain for the Chris Haack Bulldog Golf Camp! Haack has mentored several successful PGA Tour players and has led UGA to a school-record 60 tourney titles. To reserve your place today, visit the camp website.

News & Notes About The Bulldogs

BRYAN, Texas --- Georgia had its season come to an end on Wednesday as the Bulldogs finished 11th in the NCAA Bryan Regional at Traditions Golf Club.

The Bulldogs had a final-round 4-over 292 on the par-72, 7,121-yard layout to wind up at 33-over 897. The top five teams at the Regional -- Texas A&M (837), Clemson (846), Baylor (857), UCLA (866) and Kentucky (874) -- advance to NCAA Championships May 25-30 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.

Sophomore Spencer Ralston came in 17th at even-par 216 for his eighth top-20 effort of the season. Texas A&M’s Chandler Phillips claimed medalist honors at 11-under 205. Freshman Davis Thompson finished at 9-over 225, followed by sophomore Trevor Phillips at 12-over 228, junior Jack Larkin Jr. at 15-over 231 and senior Zach Healy at 18-over 234.

Ralston finished the season with a scoring average of 70.86, trailing only Lee McCoy’s 70.00 in 2016, McCoy’s 70.08 in 2015, Greyson Sigg’s 70.50 in 2017 and Joey Garber’s 70.69 in 2014 in program history. Ralston and Phillips were the only Bulldogs to appear in all 12 tournaments, while Thompson saw action in 11.

Healy capped his Bulldog stint with a career average of 72.80. He finished in the top 10 six times, including a win in the 2015 Ka’anapali Classic, and posted another 14 top-20 efforts in 38 events.

“It’s not the way we wanted our season to finish, but I’m still very proud of these guys,” Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. “Zach was a great senior for us and we appreciate all of his contributions to our program the last four years. Everyone else will be back with us next year and I’m confident they will work hard and continue to improve because I know they don’t want to fall short again. It was a season of ups and downs, but we gained valuable experience that will benefit us moving forward.”

• Keith Mitchell, Hudson Swafford, Harris English and Brendon Todd will be in action this week in the AT&T Byron Nelson.

• Erik Compton, Sepp Straka, Lee McCoy and Joey Garber will tee it up in the Web.com Tour's BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation.

• Tommy Tolles and Scott Parel are playing in the Champions Tour's Regions Tradition.

• Time is almost up to register for one of the two Chris Haack Bulldog Golf Camp sessions! Haack has mentored several successful PGA Tour players and has led UGA to a school-record 60 tourney titles. To reserve your place today, visit the camp website.

News & Notes About The Bulldogs

• The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass will feature eight Bulldogs: Harris English, Brian Harman, Russell Henley, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Keith Mitchell, Hudson Swafford and Bubba Watson.

• Erik Compton, Joey Garber, Lee McCoy and Sepp Straka will be in action in the Knoxville Open on the Web.com Tour.

• Slots for the two Chris Haack Bulldog Golf Camp sessions are filling up fast! Haack has mentored several successful PGA Tour players and has led Georgia to a school-record 60 tournament titles. Reserve your place today!

• The Bulldogs will begin play in the NCAA's Bryan (Texas) Regional on Monday. The top five schools advancing from the six Regionals will make up the 30-team field for the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 25-30 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. Qualifying continues for the fifth and substitute spots.

• Sophomore Spencer Ralston teamed with Augusta University's McCullough Pickens to win the Peach Blossom Invitational at Idle Hour Club in Macon. The Ralston-Pickens team needed extra holes win to edge senior Zach Healy and junior Matthew Beringer (a native of Macon). Freshman Davis Thompson and his father and Bulldog alum Todd came in fourth. Junior Jack Larkin Jr. teamed with Mike Brown to win the second flight.

• Our friends from Channel 2's Bulldogs Game Day were in town earlier this week to interview Coach Chris Haack, Zach Healy and Jack Larkin Jr. about the newly renovated Boyd Center and about the NCAA Regional. Tune in Saturday at 10 a.m.

Bulldogs Invited To Bryan Regional

The Georgia men's golf team will begin its quest for another national championship May 14-16 at the NCAA Regional hosted by Texas A&M, according to an announcement made on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs are seeded ninth in the Bryan Regional, which will be played at Traditions Club. The top five schools advancing from each Regional will make up the 30-team field for the NCAA Championships, which will be held May 25-30 at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. Eighty-one teams and 45 individuals were chosen for the six Regionals.

Joining the Bulldogs and host/top-seeded Texas A&M will be No. 2 seed Baylor, No. 3 seed Clemson, No. 4 seed Kentucky, No. 5 seed UCLA, No. 6 seed Ole Miss, No. 7 seed South Carolina, No. 8 seed San Francisco, No. 10 seed Mississippi State, No. 11 seed UNC-Wilmington, No. 12 seed Northern Colorado and No. 13 seed Bradley. UNC-Wilmington, Northern Colorado and Bradley were automatic qualifiers as conference champions.

“We are definitely looking forward to playing in this Regional,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “The field is a strong one, and we will have to be at our best to be one of the teams to advance. As usual, there is no margin for error at this time of the season. We will have to work with energy and intensity in the coming days and arrive at this event extremely focused.”

The Bulldogs were invited to an NCAA Regional for the 23rd straight year and for the 29th time in 30 seasons since the format was introduced in 1988-89. The Bulldogs have advanced from the Regional to the NCAAs 21 times. The Bulldogs have been invited to an NCAA Regional in all 22 of Haack's seasons and have moved onto the NCAAs in 18 of the previous 21 campaigns. Haack led the Bulldogs to the 1999 and 2005 national titles, to runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2011, and to the national semifinals in 2015.

The five other Regional sites are Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, N.C.; Scarlet Course/OSU Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio; Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Fla.; Jimmie Austin OU Golf Club in Norman, Okla.; and The Reserve at Spanos Park, Stockton, Calif.

• Keith Mitchell, Russell Henley, Brian Harman, Kevin Kisner and Hudson Swafford will be playing this week in the Wells Fargo Championship.

• Scott Parel is slated to tee it up in the Champions Tour's Insperity Invitational.

Bulldogs Ready To Compete For SEC Championship

Tournament Central

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. --- The Georgia men's golf team will join its fellow league members this week in the Southeastern Conference Championship at Sea Island Golf Club.

The SEC Championship will run Wednesday through Sunday on the par-70, 6,898-yard layout on the Seaside Course.

The tournament will feature 54 holes of stroke play Wednesday through Friday, followed by match play quarterfinals and semifinals on Saturday, and match play finals on Sunday. SEC Network + coverage will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday, while the SEC Network will air Sunday’s match starting at 7:30 a.m.

Georgia will use a lineup of senior Zach Healy, junior Jack Larkin Jr., sophomores Trevor Phillips and Spencer Ralston, and freshman Davis Thompson. Healy played in the 2015 and 2016 SECs, finishing 11th and 18th, respectively, and helping the 2016 squad claim the league crown. Larkin, Phillips and Ralston made their conference debuts a year ago.

“This team isn’t as veteran as others we’ve taken to the SECs,” Georgia head coach Chris Haack said. “That’s a little different for us, but our goals remain the same. We want to go down there and play as steady and as consistent as we can in stroke play and then take our shot in match play. The biggest thing about college golf is learning to play without fear. When you’re playing for a school like Georgia and you’re young, you immediately have more nerves than you should and you’re more uptight than you should be. That’s all part of the learning curve. These guys have had a baptism by fire, which can be tough at the beginning but ultimately will be a good thing. They’ve made huge strides in a short amount of time, so there’s no doubt in my mind that we will be in contention to win the SEC title.”

Ralston leads the Bulldogs with a scoring average of 70.69 and he has finished in the top 10 in four straight tournaments, six out of seven, and seven out of 10 overall. Thompson is next at 72.26, followed by Phillips at 72.54, Healy at 72.80 and Larkin at 76.00. 

The Bulldogs will start play on Wednesday at 12:35 p.m. and will be paired with Mississippi State. The Thursday and Friday tee times will be based on standings, with each day’s first players off at 7:30 a.m. and the last off at 9:50 a.m. The match play quarters will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by the semis at 1 p.m. The match play final will take place Sunday at 7:30 a.m.

The SEC has been played at Sea Island since 2001 (Seaside Course 2001-07, 2010-present; Frederica Golf Club 2008-09). Georgia has won six of the previous 17 championships. Alabama has won four times, Florida has won twice, while Auburn, Kentucky, LSU, Tennessee and Vanderbilt each have won once during that span.

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 the six at Sea Island. Georgia boasts 16 SEC medalists, including Haack protégés Bryant Odom (2001), Brendon Todd (2004), Russell Henley (2010) and Lee McCoy (2016).

The SEC is as strong as ever with five schools ranked in the top 10 and three others in the top 20. All 14 SEC teams currently are projected to advance to the NCAA Regionals next month, which would mark the first time that has happened.

“If you can’t get excited this time of year, there’s something wrong,” Haack said. “There’s a great deal of pride any time you get to compete for your conference championship.”

News & Notes About The Bulldogs

• Four Bulldogs are playing this week in the Valero Texas Open: Hudson Swafford, Keith Mitchell, Harris English and Chris Kirk.

• Erik Compton, Sepp Straka, Lee McCoy and Joey Garber will be in action this week in the Web.com Tour's North Mississippi Classic.

• Speaking of Compton, our friends at The Golf Channel recently posted this piece on him.

• Scott Parel will be paired with Larry Mize in the Champions Tour's Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar Lodge.