Sparked by SEC Player of the Year Davis Thompson, the 11th-ranked Bulldogs moved up one spot to fourth in the Tallahassee Regional on Tuesday.
On the Seminole Legacy Golf Club’s par-72, 7,505-yard track, the second-seeded Bulldogs fired a 6-under 282 Tuesday to move from fifth to fourth at 9-under 567 for the tournament.
The top five teams from the Regional after Wednesday’s round will advance to the NCAA Championships May 28-June 2 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Host and top-seeded Florida State leads the Regional at 24-under 552, followed by Liberty at 16-under 560, Georgia Tech at 13-under 563, the Bulldogs, and Ohio State at 7-under 569. TCU is currently in the bump spot with a 3-under 573.
Thompson, a senior from Auburn, Ala., posted his second straight 5-under 67 on Tuesday. At 10-under 134, Thompson is one shy of Jacksonville’s Michael Sakane, who is playing as an individual. Brett Roberts of Florida State and Ben Smith of Georgia Tech are next at 7-under 137.
Thompson opened on No. 10 on Tuesday and he was 4-under after his first five holes. He capped the round with birdies on two of his final four holes.
Sophomore Connor Creasy signed for a 2-under 70 on Tuesday, while junior Trent Phillips had an even-par 72 and fifth-year player Spencer Ralston added a 1-over 73. Junior Eli Scott had the Bulldogs’ non-counting score of 8-over 80.
Phillips is 18th at 2-under 142, followed by Creasy at 2-over 146, Ralston at 4-over 148, and Scott at 9-over 153.
“It’s the battle we expected when we saw the field for this Regional,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “We knew we would be going up against some of the country’s best teams. Everyone has their sights on nationals, so we’re all just slugging it out. Our guys appreciate and embrace the challenge.”
The Bulldogs are playing in a Regional for the 25th straight year and for the 31st time in 32 seasons (excluding 2020 as the postseason was cancelled due to the pandemic) since the format was introduced in 1988-89. The Bulldogs have advanced from the Regional to the NCAAs 22 times. The Bulldogs are appearing in their 24th Regional under Haack and they have moved onto the NCAAs 19 times, including five wins in a Regional. Haack led the Bulldogs to the 1999 and 2005 national titles, to runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2011, and to the national semifinals in 2015.
The other NCAA Regionals are being held at The Sagamore Club in Noblesville, Ind.; Championship Course at UNM in Albuquerque, N.M.; Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla.; Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs, Tenn.; and Tumble Creek Golf & Country Club in Cle Elum, Wash.