Men’s Golf Claims Schenkel Invitational Title.

March 28, 1999

STATESBORO, Ga. – Clemson overcame a five-stroke deficit entering the final round, then defeated Georgia on the second hole of a sudden death team playoff to claim the championship of the Chris Schenkel Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, GA.

The victory was Clemson’s fifth tournament title in eight events for the Tigers, who did nothing to hurt their consensus number-one ranking. The fifth victory of the year ties the Clemson record for tournament championships in a season. Clemson also won five tournaments in 1986-87 and in 1987-88. The 15-team field included seven of the top 20 teams in the nation.

Clemson shot a 291 on Sunday and had an 869 total for the 54 holes, the same score as Georgia, who had a 296 in the final round. Both teams counted four pars on the first extra hole, then Clemson won the event on the second extra hole.

South Carolina finished third, while Florida was fourth, Duke and TCU were tied for fifth and Augusta State was seventh. East Tennessee State ranked eighth, while Georgia Tech was ninth. Georgia Tech, ranked third in the nation, has not beaten Clemson this year.

Jonathan Byrd led the Tigers with a 69 in the final round and a fourth place overall ranking. It was his sixth top 10 finish in eight events this year and his final round 69 was his ninth round in the 60s this year. The native of Columbia is now -16 for his 24 rounds this season, best on the Clemson team.

Michael Hoey and Lucas Glover shot final round scores of 73 and both finished in the top 20 overall for the event. Hoey, a freshman from Ireland, finished 13th at the event with his 219 54-hole score, while Glover, a native of Greenville, and Wade Hampton High School, had a 221 score to rank 19th.

John Engler had a 76 on Sunday and finished 15th for the event with a 220 score. Jani Saari, playing in his first career tournament, shot a 79 in the final round for a 224 score and was 34th. Saari’s 73 and 72 in the first two rounds counted toward Clemson’s team score.

Clemson Scores

Jonathan Byrd     71-74-69  214   4thMichael Hoey      75-71-73  219  13thJohn Engler       73-71-76  220  15thLucas Glover      76-72-73  221  19thJani Saari        73-72-79  224  34thTeam           292-286-291  869   1st