Bulldogs Teeing Off in Spring Golf Season

We take a break from our normal pro ‘Dawgs on Tour coverage to bring you an update on how the current crop of undergraduates are matriculating through the NCAA golf world.

The Georgia Women’s Golf team now has two 2019 tournaments under it’s belt. At the end of January, the Bulldogs traveled west to Phoenix and a 1 day, 18 hole event at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club. The writing was on the wall for Coach Brewer’s squad to do well, and they finished the day in 2nd place, just 3 shots behind winner Arizona State (#14 nationally). Freshman Jo-Hua Hung led the Georgia team by carding a 2 under par 70 in her first collegiate action. A January enrollee, Hung was highly sought-after and she proved her mettle early.

The Bulldogs just finished the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, a 14 team event held Sunday through Tuesday in San Juan. And 8th place finish was respectable, finishing behind top 10 teams such as Kent State and Arkansas, plus #14 Northwestern. None of the Lady Bulldogs were able to go low, and the team shot 299-293-298 over the 3 days (par each day was 288). Two freshmen did finish in the top 20; Harmie Constantino tied in 9th place, and Jenny Bae tied for 18th.

The #35 ranked Bulldog team is back in Athens, and has a couple of weeks to practice before heading out to Seal Beach, CA in 2 weeks. The Gold Rush is a multi-team tournament hosted by Long Beach State, and is held February 25-26.

And just when the unincorporated territorians of Puerto Rico thought they were rid of Georgia golfers, the Men’s Golf team arrives on the island this Sunday for the Puerto Rico Classic. One might think of this as the “brother” tournament of the Lady Puerto Rico Classic mentioned above. Also a 14 team event, the #21 ranked Bulldogs will face some familiar and not so familiar foes in their first 2019 outing. Clemson (#12), Oklahoma (#13 - no word on if their top player will choose to enter the NFL draft), and good ol’ little brother Georgia Tech. Seven teams in the field rank lower than 50th, so we probably should finish ahead of Maryland, UNC-G, and Purdue.

The North Avenuers are historically a very strong golf team, and are currently ranked #4 in the country. Former GT players you might have heard of include David Duval (won the British Open and surpassed Tiger to be #1 in the world), Stewart Cink (also British Open champion), Larry Mize (who robbed Greg Norman in the ‘87 Masters and of which I will never forgive), Matt Kuchar, Tripp Isenhour, and plenty of others. Oh, and some hacker named Bobby Jones.

Forgive my side trip, it’s been a long winter.

Hopefully that gets you up to speed on golf from the Classic City. If you currently reside in an area that is above 50 degrees Fahrenheit and are able to play golf regularly, count your blessings. And you should be reading this only if your playing partner is in the clubhouse getting you a Diablo Sandwich and a Dr. Pepper from the nice lady.

And as always...

GO ‘DAWGS!!!