Morning Coffee: Hitting the links

Wednesday, May 16

(Photo courtesy of UGA Sports Communications)

Here's guessing that hotel space is at a premium in Athens for the coming days. After all, the NCAA's final four rounds for men's and women's tennis will begin Thursday in Athens.

An NCAA opening regional hosted by UGA's softball team is set to begin Friday.

And that's not all ...

A three-day NCAA men's golf regional will be hosted Thursday-Saturday at the UGA Golf Course.

The field of teams includes defending national champ Augusta State (which beat UGA in last year's NCAA final) and this year's SEC champion Alabama. As for Georgia, the Bulldogs faced a bit of rebuilding season after losing a large number of quality seniors off last year's team, but they've still done enough to be a legitimate contender this weekend.

"The teams that have been selected are good ones, as we knew they would be," UGA coach Chris Haack said, "and we’ll have our work cut out for us. At this time of year, there’s no margin for error. We know we’ll have to play really, really good golf because of the caliber of teams coming to Athens.”

Here are competing teams (regional seed/national ranking by Golfweek)

Alabama (1/2)
North Florida (2/12)
New Mexico (3/16)
Georgia (4/25)
Iowa (5/26)
East Carolina (6/38
Long Beach State (7/40)
Augusta State (8/44
Wake Forest (9/59)
Houston (10/63)
Texas-Arlington (11/80)
UNC-Wilmington (12/110)
Loyola, Maryland (13/152)

The top five teams advance to the NCAA championships May 30-June 3 in Pacific Palisades, Calif.

Play will begin at 8 a.m. Thursday and Friday and 7:30 a.m. Saturday, and there is no cost for admission or parking.

=============================

ON THE AGENDA

Mark Richt and Mark Fox hit Valdosta this evening for another UGA Day event.

While things are a bit quieter for teams in Athens, the weekend will be a busy one.

THURSDAY
-Baseball: at Alabama (7:35 p.m.)
-Men's Golf: NCAA Regionals in Athens
-Women's Tennis: NCAA Round of 16 vs Texas (4 p.m.) in Athens

FRIDAY
-Baseball: at Alabama (7:35 p.m.)
-Men's Golf: NCAA Regionals in Athens
-Softball: NCAA regional vs Coastal Carolina (5 p.m.) in Athens
-Men's Tennis: NCAA Round of 16 vs North Carolina (7 p.m.) in Athens

=============================

LINK(S) OF THE DAY

There will be more SEC officials along with more teams this season, according to Jon Solomon of The Birmingham News.

And the Macon Telegraph has an interesting photo gallery looking back at Herschel Walker before he became a star at UGA.

=============================

TWEET(S) OF THE DAY

God is good. How I pulled out a 4.0 this semester only he knows.

LB Reuben Faloughi

Me & my coach at the gym after practice #RELENTLESS http://instagr.am/p/KqmwBmumjB/

RB commit Derrick Henry

Everyone has the same opportunity in life, its just how you take advantage of your opportunity.

DB Corey Moore

As i look back ive accomplished damn near all my goals. Time to set some new ones. #YaDig.

DB commit Shaq Wiggins

(Tavarres King) (Richard Samuel) n myself saw the light during our morning workout with Sherm. #gettingfaster

QB Aaron Murray

bout to hit the training room. lord knows my hamstring need it!

WR Justin Scott-Wesley

Just want the world to know this sub sandwich don't stand a chance

Tom and jerry on now it's been a good day so far

RB Ken Malcome

Huge tactical error not eating before he game... Spent like 20$ on food and still extremely hungry

OL Watts Dantzler from the Atlanta Braves game

I just don't understand how people read & drive. Not only dangerous but reading isn't that fun.

Former UGA DL David Pollack

Gooooooooooodmorning AMERICA!!!!!!! Feels great to wake up in America after being gone for 8 months! #HomeSweetHome

Former UGA hoops player Jeremy Price

Did this guy really just say" unleash the dragon" at a lacrosse game? Lol

QB Hutson Mason