Charles Warren to be Inducted into Clemson Ring of Honor

July 24, 2009

Clemson, SC – Charles Warren, the only Clemson golfer to win the individual NCAA Championship, will be inducted into the Clemson Ring of honor this fall. Warren is the first golfer to be inducted into the Clemson Ring of Honor, the highest athletic honor bestowed by the Clemson Athletic Department.

The induction date for Warren is tentatively planned for the weekend of November 21, when Clemson plays host to Virginia at Clemson Memorial Stadium.

“I can’t tell you how excited and honored I am to be the first Clemson golfer inducted into the Ring of Honor,” said Warren, who is playing in the Canadian Open on the PGA Tour this weekend. “This means a great deal to me. To be included with these great names in Clemson history is an incredible honor.”

Warren won the NCAA Championship as a junior in 1997 at Conway Farms, near Chicago, IL. He shot a final round 67 to overtake Pepperdine’s Jason Gore, then defeated Brad Elder of Texas in a one-hole playoff. He finished with a four-round total of 279, helping the Tigers to a third-place team finish.

Warren also won the ACC Tournament that year and in his senior year (1998) and is the only Clemson golfer to win the ACC Tournament twice. He played in 50 career tournaments at Clemson and had 22 top 10 finishes.

During his senior year, Warren finished second at the NCAA Tournament in New Mexico, finishing just one shot out of a tie for the title, and he won the David Williams Award as the nation’s top senior player, the only Clemson golfer to win that national award.

Warren, a native of Columbia, SC, was a three-time All-American at Clemson, third team as a sophomore in 1996 and a first-team selection in 1997 and 1998. He ranked in the final 15 of the national Sagarin Rankings in 1996 (15th), 1997 (5th) and 1998 (7th).

In international play, Warren was the first Clemson golfer named to a United States Palmer Cup team and he also played in the United States vs. Japan matches in 1997. He finished in the final 16 at the 1997 United States Amateur and was the South Carolina Amateur Champion that year as well.

A three-time first-team All-ACC selection, Warren led the Tigers to a third place national team finish in 1997 and a second-place national team finish in 1998.

Warren was named to the ACC 50-year Anniversary team in 2002 and to the Clemson Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

Warren has been a professional golfer on the PGA Tour since he graduated in May of 1998. He won three tournaments on the Nationwide Tour, including two in 2004, and is currently in his sixth year on the PGA Tour. He has had three years in which he finished in the top 100 on the PGA Tour money list, including 2005 when he finished 77th with a career high four top 10 finishes.

“It is fitting that Charles Warren is the first Clemson golfer to be inducted into the Ring of Honor,” said Clemson Head Coach Larry Penley. “He won more big tournaments than anyone else. He was the first to win the National Championship and the first to win two ACC Championships.

“Charles showed his teammates and future Tigers that you can win big tournaments at Clemson. We can be a national program. His success helped build the foundation so the program could go to the next level and win the national championship, which we did five years after he graduated.”

“He continues to support our program and represent this University with distinction today.”