[su_spacer size=”20″] The 13th-ranked Georgia men’s golf team finished as the runner-up at the inaugural East Lake Cup on Tuesday at East Lake Golf Club.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldogs dispatched 2015 SEC and NCAA champion LSU in the semifinals 3-1-1 in a contest that began on Monday and ended on Tuesday.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Georgia then went toe-to-toe with Illinois, the nation’s top-ranked team, before dropping a 3-1-1 decision. The championship match was decided on extra holes in the competition between Georgia’s Greyson Sigg and Illinois’ Alex Burge. If Sigg had prevailed, the Bulldogs’ Lee McCoy was all square through 18 with Nick Hardy and also would have played extra holes.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “I am extremely proud of the way our guys played this week,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “We may not have won the trophy, but we learned a lot about ourselves. We were in situations where the blood was pumping and the nerves were there and we responded positively more often than not. We know we were right there with a chance to win. As a coach, that’s all you ever ask of your team.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Illinois secured the first point as Thomas Detry topped Georgia senior Sepp Straka 4&3. Georgia tied things up at 1-1 when sophomore Zach Healy beat Dylan Meyer 2-up. Charlie Danielson put the Illini back on top with a 3&2 decision over junior Jaime Lopez Rivarola.
[su_spacer size=”40″] That meant Sigg, a junior, and McCoy, a senior, each had to win his match for Georgia to prevail. Sigg was 3-up through 12, but Burge surged to square the match at 17 and ultimately win when Sigg’s putt on their 19th hole (No. 10) came up just short.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Meanwhile, McCoy had rallied from a 2-hole deficit at the turn to square his match on 12. McCoy went 1-up on 16,, but Hardy tied it on 17 and it remained that way.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The inaugural East Lake Cup was an event featuring the semifinalists – affectionately known as the “Final Fore” – from last year’s NCAA Championships. The men’s field consisted of Georgia, LSU, Illinois and Southern Cal, while the women’s field was made up of Stanford, Baylor, Duke and Southern Cal (which topped Duke 4-1 for the title).
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Bulldogs will return to action Friday through Sunday in the Ka’anapali Collegiate Classic in Hawaii. Said Haack, “That’s a pretty nice consolation prize.”
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