ST SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – The No. 23 Georgia men’s golf team narrowly fell to No. 11 Arkansas at the Southeastern Conference Championship match play quarterfinals, 3-2, on the Seaside Course at the Sea Island Golf Club on Saturday morning.
Five Fast Facts
• Caleb Manuel notched the first point for Georgia. The senior won a back-and-forth affair versus Thomas Curry that saw the score tied after seven holes and four lead changes.
• Curry took a 2-up through six lead on Manuel before the Bulldog won two of the next four holes to tie the match. Manuel, a Topsham, Me. native, took holes seven and eight to clinch the match.
• The Bulldogs’ second point came from Buck Brumlow who took his match against John Driscoll 1-up. This marks the junior’s fifth career win in match play and his first at the SEC Championships.
• The match was decided on the final hole of the final match, where Jacob Skov Olesen defeated freshman Camden Smith.
• Smith capped off the back nine holes 4-up before his opponent won five of the first six holes on the front nine to take the 1-up victory. The two split the final three holes.
Key Quotes
“The guys fought extremely hard today,” head coach Chris Haack said. “We played a really good Arkansas team that made us play them all the way down to the very end, and we just didn’t get it done. We’ll learn a lot and hopefully take that with us to NCAA nationals and win some matches there.”
“I think the first couple of matches that tee off in match play are pretty important,” Manuel said. “That’s kind of how we did our lineup, having myself, Ben and Connor – the older guys – out first and try to get leads early. For me to get the first point for the team was important to give us a chance at the end. Going out first, I felt like I was able to go out there and grab a point for the guys. All week we played well, and just because we lost that match doesn’t mean we’re not going to have a good postseason. We’ll take a few days off and we will build on this experience to better prepare us for NCAAs.”
Up Next
Georgia will now await its regional assignment for the NCAA Championships, which will be announced on Wednesday, May 1. On May 13-15, 12 teams will compete in regionals at six sites – Austin, Texas; Baton Rouge, La.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.; Stanford, Calif. And West Lafayette, Ind. The top five teams and the top individual finisher who is not a member of those teams will advance to the NCAA Championships on May 24-29 at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
SEC Match Play Quarterfinal Results (by seed)
No. 1 Auburn def. No. 8 Alabama, 3-2
No. 7 Texas A&M def. No. 2 Tennessee, 3-2
No. 5 Arkansas def. No. 4 Georgia, 3-2
No. 3 Vanderbilt def. No. 6 Florida, 3-2
No. 5 Arkansas def. No. 4 Georgia, 3-2
Caleb Manuel (UGA) def. Thomas Curry (Ark) 2-and-1
Matthis Lefèvre (Ark) def. Ben van Wyk (UGA) 2-and-1
Christian Castillo (Ark) def. Connor Creasy (UGA) 1-up
Buck Brumlow (UGA) def. John Driscoll (Ark) 1-up
Jacob Skov Olesen (Ark) def. Camden Smith (UGA) 1-up