Men’s Golf Swings to G. Tech Invite

March 16, 1998

Next Tee Time For Clemson Clemson will travel to the Georgia Tech Invitational, March 23-24 which will be held at the Crenshaw Course at Lake Oconee, GA. This will be Clemson’s first ever appearance in this tournament. The teams will play 36 holes on the 23rd and 18 on the 24th. Two of Clemson’s next three events will have a 36-hole day. The other is the Ping Intercollegiate in Cary, NC April 11-12.

Rankings Clemson is ranked sixth in the latest Rolex Collegiate Golf Poll released on March 11. The top 20 teams in the nation according to the ranking are: 1. UNLV, 2. Arizona, 3. Georgia Tech, 4. Arkansas, 5. South Carolina, 6. Clemson, 7. Georgia, 8. Oklahoma State, 9. Augusta State, 10. Houston, 11. TCU, 12. Florida, 13. North Carolina, 14. East Tennessee State, 15. Colorado State, 16. NC State, 17. BYU, 18. Arizona State, 19. Oklahoma, 20. New Mexico.

Other rankings for ACC schools include: 25. Virginia, 29. Florida State, 30. Wake Forest.

Individual Rankings

Mastercard Collegiate Golf Rankings – (As of March 11, 1998) John Engler, Freshman, 36th, 67.800 rating Charles Warren, Senior 38th, 67.243 rating Jonathan Byrd, Sophomore 51st, 60.932 rating Joey Maxon, Senior 71st, 41.150 rating Lucas Glover, Freshman 88th, 34.810 rating

Golfstat Cup (March 9, 1998) Charles Warren, 13th, 71.21 adjusted stroke average John Engler, 31st, 71.64 adjusted stroke average Jonathan Byrd, 45th, 71.91 adjusted stroke average

Clemson in Golfstat National Statistics – (As of March 9, 1998)

Individual Rankings *Lucas Glover, 1st, Putts on greens in regulation, 1.762 *John Engler, 1st, Greens in regulation, .845 *John Engler, 3rd, Fairways hit, .894 *Charles Warren, 7th, Fairways hit, .826 *Charles Warren, 10th, Greens in regulation, .725

Team Rankings *First in Fairways hit, .779 *First in Putts on greens in regulation, 1.826 *Second in Greens in regulation, .712 *Third in total short game, .580 *Fourth in Subpar strokes/round, 3.46 *Fourth in Par 5 scoring, 4.75

Clemson Finishes Fourth at Golf Digest Jonathan Byrd led the Tigers to a fourth-place finish at the Golf Digest Collegiate in Las Vegas, March 13-15. Clemson scored a six-over-par 870 on the Desert Inn Course. Byrd had a 54-hole total of 214, two-under-par.

Despite the 10th-place individual finish, Byrd had an up and down event for the Tigers. He had rounds of 65 and 69 to open the Tournament and his 10-under-par score after two rounds was equal to Kevin Johnson’s all-time Clemson record for a 54-hole tournament, 10-under at the 1987 Homberg Invitational.

But, Byrd struggled to an 80 on the final day and finished with the two-under-par score, still an accomplishment considering the field included 15 of the top 25 college teams in the nation. The native of Columbia was just one shot out of the lead with his 134 score after two rounds.

Joey Maxon continued his consistent play and shot a 218, two-over-par, good enough for 16th place while Charles Warren had a 220, four-over-par and finished 24th. Warren opened with a 69, but followed with rounds of 77 and 74. Freshman John Engler was 26th with a 221 total and Elliot Gealy, playing just his second tournament of the year, was 58th with a 228 figure.

Maxon Showing Consistency Senior Joey Maxon has been Clemson’s most consistent golfer of late. The native of Dover, DE has three consecutive top 16 finishes, the only Tiger who can make that claim. Maxon is just two-over-par for his last nine rounds of golf and has nine straight rounds at 75 or better. He has been at 73 or under in six of his last seven rounds.

Maxon started the streak with an eighth-place finish in Mauna Kea when he shot a 216 total in the last tournament of the fall. He had a 216 at Puerto Rico, Clemson’s best score of the event, then had a 218 at the Golf Digest, good enough for 16th place.

Maxon has a 73.40 average for this year, improved over his 74.37 average of last year. Maxon was an honorable mention All-American and first-team All-ACC selection as a sophomore. For his career, Maxon has a 74.32 average for 107 ronds. The Puerto Rico Classic was his 10th career top 10 finish.

Byrd Has Four Top 10 Finishes Sophomore Jonathan Byrd had his fourth Top 10 Finish, best on the team, when he finished 10th at the Golf Digest Collegiate in Las Vegas. Byrd had a 214 total, his third under-par tournament of the season. He was also under par at the Palmetto Classic and the Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He finished fourth and sixth in those events, respectively.

Byrd has a 73.36 stroke average for his career and now has 10 Top 10 finishes in his 20 tournament career. He is among an elite few Clemson players who have finished in the top 10 in 50 percent of their tournaments.

Byrd will be the first player to tell you that he strives for more consistent play. He has a top 10 finish in every other event this year. In each of the last three tournaments he has had a round in the 60s and a round at 77 or higher. He had three straight rounds in the sixties between the last round at Puerto Rico and the first two at Golf Digest, then finished the latter tournament with an 80.

Clemson’s first freshman All-ACC player had a career best 65 at the Golf Digest on March 13 (Friday the 13th). He followed that with a 69 in the second round, a 10-under-par total for the first two rounds.

Clemson Individual Bests for 1997-98Individual Best Rounds--Gross Score    65  -7  Jonathan Byrd   Golf Digest         3-13-98    67  -5  Jonathan Byrd   Palmetto Classic    9-15-97    67  -5  Elliot Gealy    Palmetto Classic    9-15-97    67  -5  Charles Warren  Golfweek            9-29-97    67  -5  Charles Warren  Mauna Kea           11-27-97    68  -4  Jonathan Byrd   Puerto Rico         2-24-98    Individual Best Rounds-vs. Par    -7  65  Jonathan Byrd   Golf Digest         3-13-98    -5  67  Jonathan Byrd   Palmetto Classic    9-15-97    -5  67  Elliot Gealy    Palmetto Classic    9-15-97    -5  67  Charles Warren  Golfweek            9-29-97    -5  67  Charles Warren  Mauna Key           11-27-97    -4  68  Jonathan Byrd   Puerto Rico         2-24-98Individual Best Tournaments--Gross Score    211 -5  John Engler Golf World    212 -4  Charles Warren  Mauna Kea    212 -4  Charles Warren  Palmetto Classic    212 -4  Jonathan Byrd   Palmetto Classic    213 -3  Charles Warren  Golf World    214 -2  Jonathan Byrd   Golf Digest    214 +1  Lucas Glover    Jerry Pate    214 +1  Jonathan Byrd   Jerry PateIndividual Best Tournaments--vs. Par    -5  211 John Engler Golf World    -4  212 Charles Warren  Mauna Kea    -4  212 Charles Warren  Palmetto Classic    -4  212 Jonathan Byrd   Palmetto Classic    -3  213 Charles Warren  Golf World    -2  214 Jonathan Byrd   Golf Digest    -1  215 Chad Starliper  Golfweek    -1  215 Jonathan Byrd   Mauna Kea