SEC MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

Arkansas men put rocky start to season behind them

Mason Overstreet of Arkansas hits a tee shot during the Valspar Collegiate Invitational at the Floridian on Monday, March 18, 2019, in Palm City, Fla. (AP Photo/Scott Halleran )

FAYETTEVILLE -- The University of Arkansas fought through a midseason lull and is riding a positive wave into the SEC men's golf championships, which start today at St. Simons Island, Ga.

The No. 37 Razorbacks' quintet of juniors Tyson Reeder, Mason Overstreet, William Buhl and Luis Garza, and freshman Julian Perico will tee off today at 9:10 a.m. on the 6,657-yard, par-70 Seaside Course at Sea Island Golf Club.

SEC Men’s Golf Championships

Where St. Simons Island, Ga.

Course Seaside, par 70, 6,657 yards

When Today through Sunday

Format Three rounds of stroke play; top eight teams seeded for three rounds of match play

TV SEC Network (Sunday only)

Tee time & partners 9:10 a.m. with No. 26 Texas A&M and No. 35 Tennessee

Projected Arkansas lineup (stroke average) Tyson Reeder (72.44), Mason Overstreet (71.79), Julian Perico (71.69), William Buhl (72.06), Luis Garza (73.25)

Noteworthy Sea Island will host the SECs for the 19th consecutive year. … Auburn is the defending SEC champion after downing Alabama 3-2 in last year’s championship match. … Florida’s Andy Zhang won medalist honors in 2018. … Coach Brad McMakin said Tyson Reeder carded a 65 at the Blessings last week. … The Razorbacks’ record this season vs. SEC teams is 1-1 vs. Alabama, 1-1 vs. Auburn, 0-1 vs. Florida, 0-1 vs. Georgia, 0-3 vs. LSU, 0-1 vs. Ole Miss, 2-0 vs. Mississippi State, 0-2 vs. South Carolina, 1-1 vs. Texas A&M and 1-2 vs. Vanderbilt.

The top eight teams after three rounds of stroke play will move on to match play starting Saturday.

The Razorbacks are coming off a 19-stroke victory in the 36-hole Git-R-Done Husker Invitational, won by Reeder for his first individual college title. Before that, Arkansas came in fourth in the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational in Augusta, Ga.

"We've had two good tournaments in a row, and we're back to playing like we were in the fall," Arkansas Coach Brad McMakin said. "I think the guys have a lot of confidence that we were lacking early on in the spring, and so I feel great about it."

The Razorbacks finished eighth out of 15 teams at The Prestige in LaQuinta, Calif., on Feb. 20; last out of 13 teams at the Querencia Cabo Intercollegiate in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on March 3; and 14th out of 15 teams at the Valspar Invitational in Palm City, Fla., on March 18.

"Golf is a crazy game," McMakin said. "We got in a little bit of a slump there early in spring. Just some scoring issues we were having, and not making any putts and getting on the wrong side of momentum it seemed like for three weeks.

"With the veterans we have, they were able to overcome it. We just weren't getting the ball in the hole. The fields we played in those three weeks were the three toughest fields in the country. You'll get exposed if you're not scoring well, and we got exposed. We got back to work, had a good tournament in Augusta. Played well there and then played well in that one-day deal at Nebraska in bad weather. The scores are better, the games are better and now the confidence is there."

All five Razorbacks have won college tournaments in the past two years. Overstreet, of Kingfisher, Okla., finished No. 2 at the NCAAs as a freshman two seasons ago. Buhl tied for third at last year's SEC championships with a 3-under 207.

In the fall, Buhl was co-medalist at the Gopher Invitational, and Perico won his first tournament at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate.

"These guys play well because they're so explosive with the length we have," McMakin said. "We can compete with anybody when we play well.

"Now we've got all five guys who have won a college tournament over the last two years. It's like I told them yesterday, if they go out and do their job and play like they're supposed to ... I think we've got one of the top five talented teams in the country if we do what we're supposed to do."

Vanderbilt is ranked No. 4 in the nation to lead six SEC teams in the top 25, along with No. 11 LSU, No. 12 Auburn, No. 13 South Carolina, No. 16 Georgia and No. 22 Alabama.

Vanderbilt senior Will Gordon is the SEC scoring leader with a 69.37 stroke average, followed by Georgia freshman Trent Phillips (69.52), Alabama senior Davis Riley (69.54), Georgia junior Spencer Ralston (70.0) and Texas A&M senior Chandler Phillips (70.26) in the top five.

Perico ranks 26th among SEC golfers with a 71.69 average, while Overstreet is 28th (71.79), Buhl is 33rd (72.06), Reeder is 50th (72.44) and Garza is 66th (73.25).

Sports on 04/24/2019