Clemson, S.C.—Coming off its best finish in two years, the Clemson women’s golf team will finish its fall schedule this weekend at the Landfall Tradition at the Country Club of Landfall’s Pete Dye Course in Wilmington, NC. Clemson will be one of 18 teams competing for the championship on the par 72 course that measures 6,150 yards.
The national field includes six of the top 20 teams in the nation according to the latest polls conducted by the Women’s Golf Coaches Association, Golfstat and Golfweek. Clemson is ranked 33rd by Golfstat, but is coming off its best performance since the opening tournament of the 2019-20 season, a span of 12 tournaments.
The field includes ACC teams Florida State, NC State, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest. ACC teams have won this event seven times, and four of the last six years. The Big Ten representatives include Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State, and Purdue. Reigning tournament champion South Carolina is the only SEC team in the field, while Texas will represent the Big 12. Furman, UCF and host school UNC-Wilmington are the only non- Power 5 Conference schools competing.
The field will begin play Friday morning at 8:30 a.m. Play continues with tee times off the first and 10th tees at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday. Sunday’s final round will begin with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. Admission is free and spectators are encouraged to attend using the Eastwood Road entrance to Landfall Country Club.
Kelley Hester’s team finished second out of 19 teams at the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational two weeks ago. Clemson shot a seven-under-par score of 857 behind third-place finishes by Melena Barrientos and Ivy Shepherd.
Barrientos and Shepherd will lead Clemson at the Landfall Tradition. Barrientos enters the tournament with a 70.00 stroke average. The freshman from Plano, Texas has a pair of top 10 finishes in her two appearances so far this year and is already ranked as the #13 player in the nation by Golfstat, #21 by Golfweek. She is second in the nation in par three scoring (2.75), is #9 in stroke average vs. par (-2.0) and #12 in scoring average (70.00).
Shepherd is second on the Clemson team in stroke average with a 71.33 figure. The senior has shot par-or-better in six of her nine rounds. Shepherd finished strong at the Tar Heel Invitational with consecutive rounds of 69. Shepherd, who is the #74 ranked player in the nation by Golfstat, enters the tournament with a strong 72.68 career stroke average second best in Clemson history behind current professional Alice Hewson.
Sophomore Savannah Grewal also will be in the Clemson lineup and is the third Tiger with a stroke average under 72 for the year (71.83). Grewal has two rounds at par, and two under-par this year. Her top tournament was a 15th place finish at the Mason Rudolph that opened the season.
“Super Senior” Callista Rice and sophomore Annabelle Pancake also will be in the Clemson lineup this weekend. Rice has a 73.67 stroke average this year with five rounds at par or better, while Pancake has a 74.50 average. Last year she tied the Clemson single round record with a 65 at the Clover Cup.
This will be Clemson’s fifth appearance at the Landfall Tradition, its first since the fall of 2017. Clemson’s best finish took place in its first year as a program in 2013 when Ashlan Ramsey led Clemson to a third place finish out of 18 teams. The tournament dates to 2002.
