Clemson Downs Florida at Barbara Nicklaus Cup

CLEMSON, S.C. — Freshman Rich Wills won both of his matches on Monday to lead Clemson at the Barbara Nicklaus Cup. The four-school, eight team match play event is being played at the Jack Nicklaus designed Muirfield Village, the home of the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament.

Men’s and women’s teams from Clemson, Florida, Ohio State and Charlotte are each playing three matches over two days.

The Clemson men spilt two team matches on Monday. Charlotte defeated Clemson in the morning match, 5-1, then Clemson defeated Florida in the afternoon, 3.5-2.5. Clemson will play Ohio State on Tuesday morning to conclude its play.

Wills was the only Tiger to gain a win in the morning, as he defeated Caden Baker of Charlotte 4&3. He then defeated Zack Swanwick of Florida in the afternoon 2&1.

Jordan Byrd’s team also got key victories in the win over Florida in the afternoon from Sean Curran and Lucas Augustsson. Curran, who was playing in just his eighth career event for the Tigers, won in dominating fashion, winning 8&6. He played his 12 holes in three under-par, as he made four birdies and one bogey.

Augustsson, a transfer from East Carolina, earned a 3-up win over Parker Sands to give Clemson its second point. The Tigers clinched the team victory when Andrew Swanson tied Parker Bell. The match actually was clinched on the 16th hole as Swanson had a two-up lead with two to play. Bell won the 18th hole to earn the tie in his match, but it gave Clemson the overall team victory, 3.5 to 2.5.

The victory improved Clemson’s team record in match play tournaments to 6-1-1 over the last seven yeas.

Live scoring of the Barbara Nicklaus Cup is available on Spikemark.com

Barbara Nicklaus Cup
Charlotte 5, Clemson 1
Muirfield Village, Dublin, OH
October 7, a.m. start

Daniel Boone (Char.) d. Sean Curran (Clem) 3&1
Eli Schmidly (Char.) d. Lucas Augustsson (Clem) 2-up
Rich Willls (Clem.) d. Caden Baker (Char.) 4+3
Justin Matthews (Char.) d. Andrew Swanson (Clem), 4-u[
Seb Cave (Char.) d. Colin Salema (Clem,), 2-up
Conor Gough (Char.) d. Kian Rose (Clem), 2-up

Barbara Nicklaus Cup
Clemson 3.5, Florida 2.5
Muirfield Village, Dublin, Ohio
October 7, p.m. start

Sean Curran (Clem) d. Matthew Kress (F), 8&6
Lucas Augustsson (Clem) d. Parker Sands (F), 3-up
Rich Wills (Clem.) .d Zack Swanwick (F), 2&1
Andrew Swanson (Clem.) and Parker Bell (F), tied
Ian Gillian (F) d. Colin Salema (Clem.), 3&2
Jack Turner (F) d. Kian Rose (Clem.), 2&1