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Jonathan Nielsen - Men's Golf - Clemson University Athletics

Jonathan Nielsen

Transfer from Carson-Newman who moved into the Clemson starting lineup in 2022-23 … second on the Clemson team in stroke average at 71.87, he led the team in under-par rounds ... had strong two years at Carson-Newman with a 72.10 average for 15 tournaments and 42 rounds … second-team DII All-American according to the Golf Coaches Association.

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Overview:  First native of Denmark to play for the Tigers…transfer from Carson-Newman who moved into the Clemson starting lineup in 2022-23…second on the team in stroke average in 2022-23 (71.87)  and first in 2023-24 (70.79)…ranked #85 in the nation by Spikemark entering the NCAA National tournament, tops among Clemson golfer…ranks fifth in Clemson history in career stroke average at 71.30…has 40 rounds at par or better out of 64 for his career, the .625 percentage if third best in school history,…32 of his 64 rounds have been under par and that 50 percent rate is sixth in Clemson history…his current season average of 70.79 is 11th best in Clemson history…has 20 under-par rounds this year to rank 10th best in Clemson history…his 15 rounds in the 60s so far this year are tied for third in school  history…has six top 10s this year and seven for his career.…his score has counted towards Clemson team score in 60-64 career rounds, 93.8 percent…had strong two years at Carson-Newman with a 72.10 average for 15 tournaments and 42 rounds…second-team DII All-American according to the Golf Coaches Association…all-conference and all-region as well…named the Male Athlete of the Year at Carson-Newman for 2021-22 academic year….had a victory at the Southern Tide Intercollegiate on October 26, 2021…had a career best nine-under-par 63 in the second round at that event…had five top 10s in 2021-22, including four top four finishes…had 71.0 stroke average in 2021-22, a school record and second best in conference history…all-conference and all-region his second year at Carson Newman, helping the team to a #6 final Golfstat team ranking at the D2 level…team was #9 in final coaches poll….a native of Denmark who was named to the Danish Nation Youth Squad 2017-19….played in a pair of professional tournaments on the ECCOTour in summer of 2022, one of Sweden and one in Denmark…made the cut in both events.

Career Bests:

Round:  64, Linger Longer, 3/17/24

Low Round vs. Par:  -8 (64), Linger Longer, 3/17/24

Low Tournament:  201, NCAA Chapel Hill Regional, 5/13-15/24

Low Tournament vs. par:  -9 (201), NCAA Chapel Hill Regional, 5/13-5/24

Most Birdies/Eagles a Tournament: 17,  (17-0), NCAA Chapel Hill Regional, 5/13-15/24

In 2023-24 at Clemson:  Named to Ping All East Region team by College Golf Coaches Association of America…has team best 70.79 stroke average this year, 11th best in Clemson history…has 20 under-par rounds and 15 rounds in the 60s…his 15 rounds in the 60s are tied for third best for a season in school history…only Bryson Nimmer (20, 2018-19) and D.J. Trahan (18, 2001-02) have had more in a season…his 20 under-par rounds are tied for 10th in school history….one of the former Tigers he is tied with is Lucas Glover, who had 20 in 1999—00…Trahan has the record with 27 in 2001-02…enters the NCAA National tournament eight-under par for his 34 rounds this year…leads the team in birdies with 138, 10 more and he will move into the top 10 in Clemson history for a season…had top 10 finishes at the Blessings (6th, -1) and the Golf Club of Georgia (8th, -6), two strong performances against national fields…had a top 25 at Ka’anapali with a 207 score…finished seventh at Watersound to lead the Tigers, then shot 216 at Pinehurst #2 to finish 18th at Wake Forest Invitational…had consecutive top 10s at Linger longer (6th) and The Goodwin (3rd)…his third place finish at The Goodwin was his best finish of the year…shot 201, nine-under par at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional and finished in seventh place…had rounds of 66-69-66 at the Chapel Hill Regional, the first Clemson golfer to have three rounds in the 60s at an NCAA Regional since Billy Kennerly   in 2013…his 201 total was second best ever by a Clemson golfer at an NCAA Regional, topped only by his teammate Calahan Keever this year (200)… his score has counted 31 of 34 rounds this year…has been Clemson’s best player in six of the 12 team tournaments and in 16 different rounds, more than double any other Clemson player…enters the national tournament with five consecutive tournaments with at least 10 birdies, including a Clemson team season high 17 at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional…leads the team in par four scoring average at 4.02…a player who gets off to a good start, has 69.75 scoring average in opening rounds this year.

In 2022-23 at Clemson: Named to the Academic All-ACC team and an Academic Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association… second on the 2022-23 team in stroke average with a 71.87 figure…led the team in rounds at par or better with 19, 12 under-par rounds and a team best seven at par…shot 75 or better in 27 of his 30 rounds…his score counted in 29 of his 30 rounds, best percentage on the team…was just five-over-par for the year on his 30 rounds…had six rounds in the 60s…had Clemson career best 67 (-4) at first round at Ka’anapali Classic…had best tournament of the year in his first tournament, a -6 score of 210 at the Maui Jim…perhaps the most consistent player over the course of the year, he was between -4 and +7 in his 10 tournaments…had just one round over 76 all year…averaged 72.20 in the first round and 71.20 in the final round…that was best on the team in terms of final round scoring average…had 3.21 average on par threes, 4.05 on par fours and 4.69 on par fives…led the team in par five scoring, second in par four scoring…had two eagles and 125 birdies, his birdie total was second best on the team…had best score of the round nine times and was Clemson’s best player twice…had a top 10 finish in his third career tournament, he finished ninth at The Blessings with an even-par 216 score…he was Clemson’s best player at the tournament in Arkansas…followed that with four-under par 212 and 13th place finish at Golf Club of Georgia, also best among Clemson golfers…had consistent rounds of 69-72-71…his performance included a five-under par 31 on the front nine at Golf Club of Georgia on October 21, that tied for the best nine hole score and score vs. par for a Tiger on nine holes all year…shot -1 and 212 score at Ka’anapali, including season best 67 in first round…finished 18th at Linger Longer with 218 score, then finished 19th at Seahawk Intercollegiate with 213 score…Clemson’s second best player at ACC Tournament with 218 score and #23 finish, then shot 212, four-under par to finish 34th at NCAA Regional.

In 2021-22 at Carson Newman:   First-team all-conference and all-regional his final year at Carson Newman…had team best 71.0 stroke average that was school record for a season and second best in conference history…had team best four top 5s, six top 10s and eight top 20s…finished in top 25 in every tournament…won the Southern Tide Intercollegiate, the last tournament of the fall, with a 209 total, seven-under-par….had tournament best 18 birdies for the 54 holes…had 88.7 finish percentage for the year…had second round 63 at Southern Tide for his career best round…had consecutive third-place finishes in the first two tournaments of the spring, he was third at Hurricane Invitational and the Bearcat Classic…had team best 17 rounds at par or better, including team best 12 under-par rounds…had four consecutive rounds in the 60s at one point…had at least one round in the 60s in seven of his 10 tournaments…had four top 10s in the fall out of his five tournaments…was ranked as high as #4 player in Division !!  by Golfstat at one point in the season….team had nine top 5 finishes, Nielsen was a big reason for that..

in 2020-21 at Carson Newman: Played in five events as a true freshman…posted a 74.5 stroke average for his 13 rounds….had season best 70 at the Tennessee River Rumble on March 30, 2021…finished third in his first career event, the Wind River Invitational when the tournament was limited to just one round…finished the year strong with 20th place out of 63 players at the SAC Championship, he had rounds of 72-73-75.

High School:  Played his high school golf in Denmark at Birkerod Gymnasium School…played soccer and golf in high school….had 17 career top 10 finishes in high school, including six wins…had a 74.1 scoring average in high school….broke into the World Amateur rankings in his junior year of high school with a victory at a the DJGA Masters (U-18)…from 2017-19 he was selected for the Danish Nation Youth Squad.

Personal: Son of Niels Erik Nielsen….studying sports management at Clemson….brothers Tim and Thomas played golf at Kaiser and Southern Wesleyan, respectively.

Jonathan Nielsen All-Time Hole-in-One Shots

YearCourseHoleDistanceClub
2016Greve, Denmark13137P wedge
2018La Cala, Spain8135P wedge

Personality Profile

Favorite  Current Professional Golfer:  Tiger Woods

Favorite Athlete Outside of Golf: Ronaldo

Favorite Course I have Played: The Scandinavian Golf Club. 

Course I Would Like to Play:  Augusta National

Toughest Course I Have Played: The Blessings

My Best All-time Round (what was the course): 63 at Southern Tide Golf Club last year playing for Carson Newman.

The Best Part Of My Game is: Irons

My Favorite Club: 6-iron

The Part of the Game I Must Improve Is: Driving

The Biggest Influence on My Golf Career Has Been: Randy Wylie, coach at Carson Newman

My Dream Foursome Includes Myself And:  My grandfather, Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer.

Hello, I'm Jonathan Nielsen!