Georgia men’s golf scene during the Ka’anapali Collegiate Classic in Lahaina, Hawaii, on Friday, Nov. 6, 2015. (Photo by Aric Becker)
The No. 10 Georgia men’s golf team will open the spring portion of its schedule next week in the 18th annual Puerto Rico Classic.
The Puerto Rico Classic will take place Sunday through Tuesday at the Rio Mar Beach Resort and Spa’s River Course, a par-72 track covering 6,945 yards. The Bulldogs will look to repeat as champions of the event, taking home the crown of the 15-team tournament in 2015.
“We’re looking forward to a great week to get things underway,” head coach Chris Haack said. “This tournament has treated us well in the past and is a nice kick start to the spring. Hopefully we can use this tournament to shake off the rust and get things moving in a positive direction for the rest of the year. We have high expectations for this this team and are excited to get the ball rolling.”
Haack will use a lineup of seniors Lee McCoy and Sepp Straka, juniors Greyson Sigg and Jaime Lopez Rivarola, and sophomore Zach Healy. Redshirt freshman Jack Larkin, Jr. will compete in the individual tournament as well.
Georgia is currently ranked 10th in the most recent edition of the Golfstat poll, while the Bulldogs are No. 16 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.
“Everyone is looking forward to this trip,” said Straka. “This is one that people try extra hard to qualify for, going down to Puerto Rico, especially in February. It gets pretty chilly here, so it’ll be nice.”
Joining the Bulldogs for the tournament will be Purdue, Alabama, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Northwestern, Oklahoma, UNC-Greensboro, Kentucky and Virginia Tech.
The Bulldogs will play with Oklahoma and Northwestern on Sunday. Live results can be found at BirdieFire.com.
The Bulldogs won the Puerto Rico Classic in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2015. Chris Kirk and Hudson Swafford were individual medalists in 2006 and 2009, respectively.