Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Georgia golfers placed in College Station regional

By on May 11, 2010

The 12th-ranked Georgia men’s golf team will begin its quest for the national championship in the College Station Regional.

The NCAA Committee on Monday announced its 81-team postseason field for the six Regionals that will be played May 20-22. The top five teams from each of the Regionals will make up the 30-team field for the NCAA Championship June 1-5 at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, Tenn.

The Bulldogs earned the third seed for the College Station Regional at the Traditions Club, where they will be joined by 13 other teams.

“It’s every team’s goal to make it to the postseason, so we are excited about the opportunity,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “This is what we’ve been working toward all season. I’ve always said this is the most stressful, most nerve-racking tournament of the year because of what’s at stake. But we have a team that’s gotten more and more mature as the year has gone on. We’re also playing with a lot of confidence, so we are looking forward to this next step.”

Georgia has won three times this season, including each of its last two events. Last month, the Bulldogs claimed the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin, Texas, then posted a victory at the SEC Championship on St. Simons Island.

Joining Georgia in College Station will be No. 2 Texas A&M, No. 13 Texas Tech, No. 21 TCU, No. 22 North Florida, No. 33 Pepperdine, No. 35 Auburn, No. 52 Baylor, No. 55 North Carolina, No. 59 Rice, No. 67 Tulsa, No. 69 Wichita State, No. 204 Georgetown and No. 258 Jackson State. Georgia, Pepperdine, Wichita State, Georgetown and Jackson State all earned automatic bids as conference champions.

Georgia will be making its 21st appearance since the NCAA went to the Regionals format for the 1989 season. The Bulldogs have advanced to the NCAA Championship 15 times in that span, including 12 straight. Haack guided the 1999 and 2005 Bulldogs to national titles.

The top seeds for the other Regionals are Oklahoma State in Alpharetta, Ga.; Stanford in South Bend, Ind.; Washington in Bremerton, Wash.; UCLA in New Haven, Conn.; and Oregon in San Diego, Calif.