ATHENS, Ga. — The 23rd-ranked Georgia men’s golf team will begin its quest for another national championship May 15-17 at the NCAA Regional hosted by Middle Tennessee State, according to an announcement Thursday by the NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Committee.
The Bulldogs are seeded fourth in the College Grove Regional, which will be played at The Grove Club. Georgia placed fifth in the Franklin American Mortgage Intercollegiate at The Grove in September. Thirteen teams will compete in the College Grove Regional, with the top five teams advancing to the NCAA Championships May 26-31 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Ill.
Joining the Bulldogs and host Middle Tennessee State in the College Grove Regional will be Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Clemson, Missouri, Lipscomb, Kennesaw State, UCF, TCU, Troy, ETSU and Harvard.
“We’re excited to be back in a Regional and for the chance to play again at The Grove,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “Our Regional is a talented one, top to bottom. We know it’s going to be extremely competitive, but that’s what you expect this time of year. We’ll have to be at our best to be one of the teams to advance. As always, there’s no margin for error at this time of the season.”
Haack is expected to use a lineup of seniors Jaime Lopez Rivarola and Greyson Sigg, sophomore Tye Waller, and freshmen Trevor Phillips and Spencer Ralston in the Regional. Lopez Rivarola, Sigg, Waller and Ralston were in the lineup when the Bulldogs placed fifth in the FAMC at The Grove. Ralston led the Bulldogs as he came in seventh, followed by Sigg in ninth and Waller in 13th. Said Haack, “Four of our five guys got in four rounds at The Grove in the fall. That should be extremely helpful to us.”
The Bulldogs were invited to an NCAA Regional for the 22nd straight year and for the 28th time in 29 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 21 of Haack’s seasons and have moved onto the NCAAs in 18 of the previous 20 campaigns. Haack led the Bulldogs to the 1999 and 2005 national titles, to runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2011, and to the “Final Fore” in 2015.
The five other Regional sites are Aldarra Golf Club in Sammamish, Wash.; the University of Texas Club in Austin, Texas; Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif.; the Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind.; and the University Club in Baton Rouge, La.