Tigers Open Play in NCAA Regional Thursday

CLEMSON, S.C. – Larry Penley‘s Clemson men’s golf team opens NCAA Tournament play this coming Thursday (May 15) at the par 72, 7,151-yard Rich Harvest Farms Golf Club in Sugar Grove, Ill. Clemson is one of 14 teams competing at the regional. The top five teams from each of six regional sited across the country will advance to the NCAA National Championship at Prairie Dunes Golf Club in Hutchinson, Kan., May 27-June 1.

Clemson’s selection is its 34th in the NCAA Men’s Golf Tournament, including each of the last 33 years. The 33-year streak is the second longest active streak in the nation behind Oklahoma State (69).

Clemson has gone to the NCAA Tournament all 31 seasons Larry Penley has served as head coach. The Tigers won the NCAA Championship under Penley in 2003.
Clemson, the No. 6 seed in the regional, enters the tournament ranked 33rd in Golfweek and 33rd by GolfStat. As the number-six seed, Clemson will be paired with fourth seed UAB and fifth seed UNLV for the first round.

The Tigers own the No. 11 strength of schedule in the nation according to Golfweek, and are coming off a third-place finish at the ACC Championships.

Clemson has one victory (Cleveland Golf Palmetto Classic), a second place (Wolfpack Spring Open) and two third-place finishes.
Clemson has had a balanced team this season, as the top three players on the team are separated by less than half a stroke per round.

Stephen Behr leads the way with a 72.26 average for his 27 rounds. The sophomore from Florence, S.C., has five rounds in the 60s, including each of his last two rounds at the ACC Tournament. He finished eighth at the Wolfpack Spring Open and ninth at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Classic.

Miller Capps is Clemson’s No. 2 player in terms of stroke average with a 72.54 figure. The sophomore from Denver, N.C., had the most impressive performance of the year when he won the Puerto Rico Classic in February with a 204 total against a national field.

Austin Langdale is a freshman from Townville, S.C., with a 72.68 average, third on the team. He has a team-best tying three top-10 finishes, including medalist honors at the Cleveland Golf Palmetto Classic. Langdale has consecutive top-10 finishes entering the NCAA Regional, including a ninth place at the ACC Tournament, the best finish by a Tiger freshman at the conference tournament since Kyle Stanley was third in 2007.

Cody Proveaux also has three top-10 finishes this season, including two in a row entering the NCAA Regional. He was the only Tiger to score even par or better in each of the three rounds of the ACC Tournament. He has 10 rounds at par or better this season and was Clemson’s No. 2 scorer at the NCAA Regional last year in Arizona.

Carson Young rounds out the Clemson lineup. The freshman from Pendleton, S.C., and high school teammate of Langdale has a 74.41 stroke average, but has scored 72 or better in four of his last seven rounds.