The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/8/09 Section: Sports

HARMAN [Click to enlarge]

The Georgia men's golf team, playing in the fourth annual U.S. Collegiate, not only had to battle a brutal, difficult golf course but also mother nature. Rare snow flakes fell from the sky, making an already difficult course that much harder.

The Dogs were able to battle the Golf Club of Georgia course in Alpharetta and the unusual snowy conditions to secure a fourth place finish at 19-over-par 883, just seven shots back of winner Clemson.

"We did OK. We had to play through about eight holes of snow today and snow flurries off and on. I thought we hung in there, and it wasn't exactly what we wanted, but it was a tough day," senior Brian Harman said. "The golf course was really hard and it was really hard to hang tough all day,"

One of the important themes for the Bulldogs this season has been the reemergence of Harman, an All-American, who continued his excellent spring play with an impressive sixth place finish at 1-over-par 217 - five shots back of medalists Bud Cauley of Alabama and Erik Flores of UCLA.

"I played well," Harman said. "I was proud of the way I hung in there. I didn't let the conditions mess with my head too bad, and I just kept it in play and tried not to get frustrated, and you know I was pretty happy with the way I played."

Harman credits his improved play this spring to his renewed dedication to his game, along with his wrists being fully healthy for the first time in longer than a year.

"I have just been working really hard, and I've been pretty healthy," he said. "My wrists feel a whole lot better than they have in the past, and I've just been working hard. I'm finally starting to get some confidence back and kind of playing my own game and not do stuff I can't do, and it's starting to pay off a little bit."

Senior Adam Mitchell, who was benched in the opening match of the spring in favor of fellow senior Michael Green, has returned to his All-American ways in the last three tournaments with his third straight top-20 finish, coming in a tie for 11th at 4-over-par 220.

"Adam is one of our top guys," Harman said. "It has been good to have him back. You know, he's a great player, and we all have a lot of respect for his game. We know that any given day he can shoot a low number, so it takes a lot of pressure off of us having him back, and we feel like we have our five and we're kind of where we need to be."

With the U.S. Collegiate behind them, where they beat every SEC team in attendance including rivals Florida and Alabama, the Bulldogs will begin preparations for the SEC Championships. And Harman believes they are right where they need to be heading into the most important tournament of the year thus far.

"I think this was a really good test, and I think it kind of lets us know where we stand," Harman said. "It just lets us know that we need to work really hard in the next week and a half to try to see how ready we can get and see how good we can get here before SEC Championships. I always like having a real tough week before so we're definitely not overconfident and not going to feel invincible going in there, which I think is a positive."

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