Georgia Golf Lands in Second Place After Day One of the NCAA Championships

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It appears the Georgia golf team came to the NCAA Championships on a mission.

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The Georgia men’s golf team exploded out of the blocks for an even par 288 and second place spot in the opening round of the NCAA Championships on Friday at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, FL.

“Getting off to a good start automatically relaxes you,” Haack said to Georgiadogs.com. “You don’t have that feeling that you’re already behind the eight ball, like we did in the Regional. At the same time, we’ve got a couple of more rounds to go and if you let up on this course it can jump up and bite you. I hope we can keep it going and that this positive momentum stays with us.”

Zach Healy led Georgia with a 2-under 70. Georgia is two shots behind  four seed Illinois. Southern Cal is third at 1-over 289, San Diego State is fourth at 2-over 290, LSU is fifth at 4-over 292.

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Play continues through Sunday for all 30 teams. Monday the individual national champion is crowned. The low eight squads will advance to match play beginning on Tuesday to decide the team champion.

Healy is tied for fifth in the individual standings, two shots shy of Illinois’ Thomas Detry and South Florida’s Claudio Correa.

Healy, a freshman from Peachtree Corners, Ga., spoke to Georgiadogs.com. “I didn’t make any big mistakes today. I knew where I wanted to hit and where I wanted to leave it. If you can do that, you can manage the course. It’s a difficult course, but if you leave yourself a chance to make putts, you can be OK. But if you’re in the wrong spots, you’re done.”

Bulldog senior Mookie DeMoss followed Healy with a 1-under 71, good enough for a tie for 13th. Junior Lee McCoy, a finalist a finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year Award, shot a 1-over 73, and junior Sepp Straka finished at 2-over 74. Sophomore Greyson Sigg had the Bulldogs’ non-counting score of 3-over 75.

The Dawgs must play with poise if they are to continue challenging. “This is one of the most difficult courses I’ve ever seen,” Haack said. “You can’t ever let up. It can really wear you out mentally.”

The Bulldogs tee off Saturday 1:30 and 2:10. Live results are at GolfStat.com.