WGOLF: Dawgs Move Into Second Place at NCAA Albuquerque Regional
Led by a pair of 3-under tallies from Jenny Bae and Candice Mahé, the Georgia women’s golf team fired a 4-under 284 in Tuesday’s second round of the NCAA Albuquerque Regional. That effort was the low team loop of the day and pushed the Bulldogs to second place on the team leaderboard.
Georgia enters Wednesday’s final round at even-par 576, eight shots back of No. 2 Oregon. Equally importantly, the Bulldogs are eight strokes ahead of No. 11 Florida, which is in fifth place. The top-4 teams from the Regional will earn bids to the NCAA Championships next week in Scottsdale, Ariz.
“We’ve been waiting all spring for a round where all five golfers played well and we reach our potential,” head coach Josh Brewer said. “We were just really solid all day. It’s where you want to be heading into the final round of Regionals.”
Georgia started quickly and maintained momentum. LoraLie Cowart and Mahé, the first two Bulldogs to tee off, both carded birdies at No. 1. After turning at 4-under as a team, Georgia played the back side of the University of New Mexico’s Championship Course at even.
“LoraLie, after struggling yesterday, started today with a birdie for the team and then Candice followed that up with another birdie,” Brewer said. “That got us going. And even Caterina (Don) with her birdie-birdie finish gave us some momentum going into tomorrow. It was a total team effort today. It was exciting.”
In addition to the 69s, Georgia’s counting tallies also included a pair of 1-over 73s from Cowart and Jo Hua Hung. A day after counting a 76, the Bulldogs dropped a 74 from Don.
No. 2 Oregon also shot 4-under on Tuesday to move the Ducks to 8-under overall. Following the Bulldogs, No. 13 Texas in third at 577, followed by TCU at 584, the Gators at 584, No. 23 Arizona and Sam Houston both at 588, Louisville at 591, Oklahoma at 602, North Texas at 603, New Mexico State at 606 and Northern Arizona at 614.
Bae is in second place individually at 7-under 137, three shots behind Oregon’s Briana Chacon. Mahé vaulted 15 places on the leaderboard to a tie for sixth at 1-under 143, while Hung is tied for 21st at 147, Don is tied for 33rd at 150 and Cowart is tied for 49th at 153.
Both Bae and Mahé mixed four birdies with one bogey en route to their 3-under tallies.
After her beginning birdie, Mahé moved to 2-under with another at No. 5. She wrapped up the front side with her lone bogey of the day; however, consecutive birdies at No. 13 and No. 14 pushed her to 3-under. Mahé finished with four straight pars to match her low loop in 55 rounds during her Georgia career.
Bae turned at 2-under after posting birdies at both No. 5 and No. 7. She moved to 3-under with another red number at No. 14. Following a bogey at No. 17, Bae completed up her loop with a birdie to record her second-straight round in the 60s and sixth of the season.
The Bulldogs are in search of a second-straight Regional title. Last spring, Bae won medalist honors and Georgia earned a 15-shot win at the NCAA Columbus Regional.
“We talked and our mentality going into tomorrow is that we feel like we’re eight behind,” Brewer said. “We have a chance to win back-to-back Regionals. That’s what we’re striving to do tomorrow, put some pressure on Oregon. We’d like to jump, with the obvious of not being reckless and paying some attention to the leaderboard, but trying to move up again and duplicate today’s round.”
Georgia will be paired with Oregon and Texas on Wednesday, teeing off in waves between 11:06-11:50 a.m. Live scoring will be available via golfstat.com.
SOFTBALL TODAY: UGA Draws Rematch With Ole Miss in SEC Championship
Date: May 11, 2022
First Pitch: 7:30 p.m., EDT
Location: Gainesville, Fla.
Stadium: Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium
Tickets: SEC Tournament Tickets
Media Information
TV: SEC Network
Play-by-play: Beth Mowins
Analysis: Michele Smith
Streaming: ESPN.com // ESPN app
Radio: SEC Radio Network on SiriusXM
The ninth-seeded Georgia Bulldogs will open SEC Tournament play Wednesday evening against No. 8 Ole Miss at Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. First pitch between the Bulldogs and Rebels is set for 7:30 p.m. live on SEC Network.
Follow the Bulldogs
» Wednesday’s game will air nationally on SEC Network. Beth Mowins (play-by-play) and Michele Smith (analysis) will be on the call.
» Wednesday’s game will stream live via ESPN.com and the ESPN app.
» All games of the SEC Tournament will can be heard on the SEC Radio Network on SiriusXM.
Series History
» Georgia leads the all-time series 50-15
» Ole Miss has won three of the last four series including the final regular-season series of 2022 in Athens
» Prior to Ole Miss winning the series in 2018, Georgia had won 15-straight series dating back to 2000
» Georgia is 1-1 against the Rebels in neutral sites, both meetings being in the SEC Tournament
» The Bulldogs history against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament came in the opening round in back-to-back years (2015, 2016). Georgia run ruled Ole Miss in Baton Rouge in 2015 then fell to the Rebels in Starkville in 2016.
SEC Tournament Tidbits
» Georgia’s all-time SEC Tournament record is 21-23 (.477) in 20 appearances
» Georgia’s lone tournament title came in 2014 in Columbia, South Carolina
» This will be Georgia’s first time as the #9 seed in the tournament
» Georgia is 1-1 against Ole Miss in the SEC Tournament; Georgia run ruled Ole Miss in Baton Rouge in 2015 then fell to the Rebels in Starkville in 2016, both in the opening round
» The Bulldogs are 3-1 when the SEC Tournament is held in Gainesville (2005); Georgia finished runner-up in 2005, falling to Alabama in the tournament championship, 2-0
» Georgia’s 21 SEC Tournament wins and .477 percentage rank tied for fifth in tournament history
» Georgia has reached the tournament finals five times, fourth-most in league history; most recently in 2014 when the Bulldogs won the title
» The Bulldogs rank second with four Championship runner-up finishes (2002, 2004, 2005, 2011)
» Pitching coach Chelsea Wilkinson was the Tournament MVP in 2014 when Georgia won its first and only SEC Tournament championship in Columbia, South Carolina
» Georgia is set to host the SEC Tournament in Athens in 2024 at Jack Turner Stadium
T&F: Kyle Garland Named Men’s Athlete of the Week – Twice
U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Athlete of the Week
Georgia junior decathlete Kyle Garland has been named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association National Men’s Athlete of the Week following his weekend performance, according to a USTFCCCA announcement Monday.
Garland shares this week’s honor with Northern Arizona distance runner Abdihamid Nur, who trimmed two seconds off the collegiate 5000 meters record over the weekend.
Garland, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., gives the Bulldog men six outdoor National Athlete of the Week honors in history, including junior sprinter Matthew Boling’s earlier this season. Garland is the fifth Georgia decathlete of earn one of these accolades (Karel Tilga, Devon Williams, Garrett Scantling, Maicel Uibo).
Garland competed in just the fourth decathlon during his collegiate years and destroyed the collegiate record with 8,720 points to take second at the USATF Combined Events Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. This qualified him for a spot on Team USA for the coming World Athletics Championships (July 15-26, Eugene, Ore.).
Posting six personal bests, three event victories and three adjustments to the Bulldog all-time top-10 lists, Garland shattered the collegiate record by 181 points (Texas A&M’s Lindon Victor, 8,539, 2017) and the school record by 236 points (Karel Tilga, 8,484. 2021). He becomes the No. 7 all-time American performer thanks to his mammoth point total.
Southeastern Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Georgia decathlete Kyle Garland has been tabbed the Southeastern Conference Men’s Field Athlete of the Week for the second time this season following his performance at the USATF Combined Events Championships, according to a league announcement Tuesday.
Garland was named the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) National Men’s Athlete of the Week earlier in the day.
This marks the second SEC outdoor weekly honor for Garland, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., after he also earned one last month. The 2021 and 2022 NCAA indoor runner-up in the heptathlon joins Elena Kulichenko (Women’s Freshman) and Matthew Boling (Men’s Runner) as SEC weekly award winners for Georgia so far this season.
Garland competed in just the fourth decathlon during his collegiate years and destroyed the collegiate record with 8,720 points to take second at the USATF Combined Events Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. This qualified him for a spot on Team USA for the coming World Athletics Championships (July 15-26, Eugene, Ore.).
Posting six personal bests, three event victories and three adjustments to the Bulldog all-time top-10 lists, Garland shattered the collegiate record by 181 points (Texas A&M’s Lindon Victor, 8,539, 2017) and the school record by 236 points (Karel Tilga, 8,484. 2021). He becomes the No. 8 all-time American performer thanks to his mammoth point total.
Up Next: The Bulldogs travel to Oxford, Miss., this week to take part in the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Championships on May 12-14. Garland will skip SECs as he continues to recover and then train for the NCAA Outdoor Championships at the University of Oregon on June 8-11.
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