Athens, GA - The Georgia men’s golf team is ranked No. 4 in the preseason edition of the Golf World college coaches poll released on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs, the 2010 Southeastern Conference champions, received three first-place votes and accumulated 397 points. Oklahoma State (eight first-place votes, 502 points) grabbed the No. 1 spot, followed by Stanford, (one, 447) and defending NCAA champion Augusta State (seven, 438).

Georgia’s Russell Henley is ranked No. 3 on the Top 50 Players To Watch list. Henley won four tournaments in 2010-11 and finished as the National and SEC Player of the Year.

The content will be featured in the Sept. 6 issue of Golf World Magazine and can be viewed online at golfdigest.com/magazine/blogs/campusinsider.

Henley will spearhead a lineup that includes fellow senior All-Americans Harris English and Hudson Swafford. English was a two-time winner last season, while Swafford missed all of last year with a shoulder injury but bounced back to qualify for the U.S. Open with Henley and the U.S. Amateur with English. Georgia also returns 2010 SEC Freshman of the Year Bryden Macpherson along with five additional letterwinners.

Georgia won three tournaments last season, including the 28th SEC title in the program’s history. However, the Bulldogs missed the NCAA Championship for the first time in 12 years following a sixth-place finish in the South Central Regional.

“The No. 4 ranking is pretty gratifying to our team,” Georgia coach Chris Haack said. “We definitely did not like the way last season finished. I think the ranking shows that the coaches feel like we’ll be back in the conversation this year, and I know we all feel that way. We are excited about the team we have coming back. But at the same time, we know we’ve got to work hard every day and earn everything that we get.”

The Bulldogs will open the 2010-11 season Sept. 10 in the Carpet Capital Collegiate at The Farm in Rocky Face.