The No. 8 Georgia men’s golf team won the inaugural Dick’s Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup on Saturday, giving Coach Chris Haack the 50th victory of his career.
Haack, who is in his 18th season, has led the Bulldogs to at least one win in 15 years, including the 1999 and 2005 national championships and seven SEC titles. He extended his own school record for most victories by a Georgia golf coach.
“I am extremely humbled to reach a milestone like this,” Haack said. “It means a lot to bring this recognition to Georgia. I can’t help but think about all the fantastic players we’ve had through the years who helped get us to this point. I’ve also been blessed to have great assistants in Jim Douglas, Ryan Hybl and Jason Payne, who did such a tremendous job with recruiting and coaching. I know my name gets written down with this, but this is truly a team effort. It’s something that I share with all of them.”
On Saturday, the Bulldogs fired a 10-under 274 to wind up at 20-under 832, five shots clear of the next best team.
Senior Joey Garber and sophomore Lee McCoy paced the Bulldogs in the third round with 4-under 67s. Senior Michael Cromie added a 2-under 69 and junior Mookie DeMoss had an even-par 71. Junior Nicholas Reach had the Bulldogs’ non-counting score of 7-over 78.
Garber came in second individually at 9-under 204. McCoy placed fifth at 3-under 210, followed by Cromie in eighth at 2-under 211, DeMoss in 15th at 2-over 215 and Reach at 5-over 218.
On Sunday, the teams will pair up in an SEC vs. ACC match play event, with Georgia and Clemson going head to head. The first conference to 12.5 points will claim the Challenge Cup.