College Golf Museum: 2005 Championship Flag
Signatures from National Champion Georgia Bulldogs
We tend to connect best to history through tangible items. It’s one thing to read about past exploits, but seeing a physical artifact helps bridge our minds to a given moment and unlock the ineffable wonder. How do you properly describe what it feels like to hold a medal won in a competition held before your oldest living relative was born? What words do you use to give weight to the delicate feeling of turning the pages of a tournament program that hasn’t ever been scanned? Even souvenirs so modern it feels blasphemous to call them “relics” are hefty beyond their mass, weighed down by their significance to the history of this great sport. As we take a stroll through the college golf museum, hopefully the pictures below plus a healthy dose of context will provide the perfect extra 1,000+ words.
Join me today in examining a flag autographed by the five players and two coaches who won the 2004-05 NCAA championship. Georgia recently celebrated the 20 year anniversary of their second team title, making this a timely addition to the growing college golf museum!
*NOTE: underlined text provides a link to references or sites with more information
Georgia Bulldogs Are 2004-05 Champs
The Georgia Bulldogs arrived at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owing Mills, Maryland ranked #2 in the nation and feeling confident. Coach Haack’s quintet were competing in their 19th tournament together over the course of two seasons and had navigated one of the nation’s toughest schedule to arrive right back where they started the season. After Hurricane Ivan forced the postponement of their scheduled opener at the Carpet Capital Collegiate back in October, the Bulldogs actually began their Fall season at the NCAA Preview hosted at Caves Valley GC where they finished third, 13 shots behind (end of season) top ranked Oklahoma State.
Georgia raced out to a quick lead, posting a first round 274/-6 behind team captain Kevin Kisner’s bogey-free 65/-5. Kisner had a share of the lead and his Bulldogs were ahead by 5 strokes after the first day. Scoring was brutal on day two, however despite shooting 284/+4 Georgia had gained 2 more strokes on Tennessee and remained the only team under par at the halfway point. That lead again stretched by 2 more strokes the next day despite a painful 297/+17, earned during a brutally wet and cold 3rd round.
With his team playing steady and perhaps a little help from his lucky coin, Coach Haack got to live out every coach’s dream scenario of winning the NCAA championship in wire-to-wire fashion. The Bulldogs shot a final round 280/E for a 1135/+15 total that was 11 strokes better than rival Georgia Tech.
The national championship is the second in Georgia history (1999).
THE SIGNATURES
All five of the champion Bulldogs ended up earned All-American Honors, a rare feat which gives this flag full of signatures even more significance.
Richard Scott (junior) earned Honorable Mention in a season where he missed a couple of tournaments while representing Canada at the World Amateur Team Championship. His best finish came at the SEC Championship where he finished runner-up to Tennessee’s David Skinns.
David Denham was the lone senior on the team and his incredibly steady season that included nine top-20 finishes - 6 of them top-10 - resulted in his earning First Team SEC and Second Team All-American status.
Coach Jim Douglas joined the program as an assistant in 1997 and was there with Coach Haack during both championships in 1999 and 2005. In the days of strict limitations on assistant coaches, having one as exceptional as Coach Douglas proved invaluable.
Team Captain Kevin Kisner (junior) also earned Honorable Mention, making him the third Bulldog to become a 3-time All-American (Vinny Giles, Chip Beck, and Michael Morrison). Kisner broke through his Spring slump in a major way with that opening round 65 in the NCAAs which undoubtedly set the tone for his teammates and their ultimate victory.
Chris Kirk (sophomore) had a fantastic year, collecting two individual wins which earned him SEC First Team honors as well as being named to the All-American Second Team. Kirk was a steady backbone for the Bulldogs all season, leading the team in scoring average and finishing the in the top-20 nine times including his T13 performance at the NCAA championship.
With his second team championship, Coach Chris Haack also earned his second National Coach of the Year Award. He was also chosen to coach the US squad in the 2006 Palmer Cup. Coach Haack would be inducted in the Golf Coaches Association of America Hall of Fame in 2012 along with six others, including Texas Coach John Fields.
Brendon Todd (sophomore) was also chosen for the All-American Second Team as well as the SEC Second Team for his stellar year that included a win at the Perry Maxwell Invitational - where he tied the tournament scoring record - and a sixth place finish at the East Regional. Todd was the best finishing Bulldog at the NCAA Championship, totaling +3 to place T-7th.
AFTERWARDS
After the championship season, Coach Douglas left to pursue other business interests and was replaced by recent UGA graduate Ryan Hybl. New additions to the 2005-06 team included Michael Green, Adam Mitchell, and the nation’s top junior player Brian Harman, who won the Georgia Amateur and was named to the Walker Cup team shortly before the Fall 2006 season started.
Hybl eventually left Georgia for his own head coaching role at Oklahoma in 2009, adding another NCAA title to the Haack Coaching Tree in 2017. Coach Douglas rejoined the team as Coach Haack’s assistant/associate head coach in 2011, a role he still serves in as of the 2025-26 season.
In the two decades since this championship, the Bulldogs have continued to be annual contenders at the NCAAs as Coach “Haacker” has produced an incredible number of All Americans, several of whom continue to enjoy successful pro careers including Todd, Kirk, and 2025 Ryder Cup Vice Captain Kevin Kisner.
Thanks for reading! Do you have any intercollegiate photos/relics you’d like to share? We would love to hear from you and perhaps feature it/them in a future post!
