Georgia golfer Lee McCoy swears he’s learned a lesson about making fun of people.
When Georgia golf coach Chris Haack had some surgery on his leg recently that left him hobbling around the course, McCoy took the opportunity to poke a little fun by imitating Haack’s stride and swinging the club like an old man.
It was all good fun. Until McCoy cracked a rib doing it.
“Talk about instant karma,” McCoy said. “I learned my lesson in that regard. It’s certainly something I won’t be doing again, out of superstition if nothing else.”
It didn’t seem to bother the senior too much on Monday during the first round of the East Lake Cup at the East Lake Golf Club. When play was stopped because of darkness, McCoy was 5-up on LSU’s Eric Ricard through nine holes. It could have been worse; McCoy halved the last two holes with birdies.
“I’m just glad to see him playing and playing well,” Haack said. “We didn’t have to go to battle without him. That was nice.”
The rib was definitely on McCoy’s mind when the day began. He didn’t take a full swing until his first tee shot and resisted the urge to swing really hard for most of the day.
“But once I got out there, I started thinking more about golf and less about my rib,” McCoy said. “Around the fourth or fifth hole, it started to not be quite as bad. But it was a little bit of a struggle.”
The Bulldogs were ahead in three of their matches against reigning NCAA champion LSU. Junior Jamie Rivarola finished his match, beating LSU’s Brandon Pierce 7 and 5. Greyson Sigg was 2-up through 10 holes against LSU’s Nathan Jeansonne. Georgia’s Zach Healy was all-square against Zach Wright through 12 holes. LSU’s Sam Burns was 5-up on Sepp Straka through 13 holes.
“It’s those middle matches with Healy and Sigg, we need those guys to keep playing strong,” Haack said. “Those are the two key matches and right now we’re doing OK in them, but we’ve got to close them out.”
Illinois had a 4-0-1 lead over Southern Cal in the other men’s match.
In the women’s division, Southern Cal had a 2-1-2 lead on Baylor and Duke led defending NCAA champion Stanford 4-1. Riverdale’s Mariah Stackhouse, the only Stanford player with a lead, was 2-up through 12.
The first round was delayed by nearly four hours because of heavy rains that dumped three inches of rain on the course. But by the time play began, superintendent Ralph Kepple and his staff had fashioned some remarkably good conditions.
The first round will be re-start Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. The consolation and championship matches will begin at 11:30 a.m., with Golf Channel’s coverage starting at 2 p.m.
The first annual event was created to showcase the top college golf programs and bring attention to the East Lake Foundation, which has helped rebuild the neighborhoods that adjoin the property.
