Clemson Finishes 7th at NCAA Regional

May 21, 2011

CLEMSON, SC – Crawford Reeves fired a two under par 70 to record a top 10 individual finish, but the Clemson Tigers failed to advance from the Central Regional at Erie, CO on Saturday. Clemson finished seventh among the 13 teams at the Colorado National Golf Club with a score of five under par 861.

The Tigers were tied for third entering the final round, but had just a two shot lead over the fifth place team in the competitive event. The Tigers had a one over par team round of 289 on Saturday. Clemson needed a 287 to force a playoff for the final spot.

The top five teams in the field, Oklahoma State (-31), Colorado State (-13), Northwestern (-9), Georgia (-7) and Arizona State (-7), all advance to the NCAA Championships at Stillwater, OK May 31 to June 5. Northwestern had the best round of the day with a 12 under par 276 score to vault past the Tigers, who were in third place entering the final round. Colorado State also went past the Tigers on the last day and finished in second place.

Clemson finished in seventh place, but just shots out of fifth place. Clemson was two shots off the cut line for most of the last three hours of play and just could not get over the hump on the final holes.

Clemson played the back nine in 11 under par on Friday to vault into third place after 36 holes. But Clemson played the last nine holes in even par on Saturday and thus failed to make the comeback the Tigers had realized on Friday.

Reeves had the top round of the day with a two under par 70. He finished the tournament at five under par 211 for the 54 holes, good enough for sixth place. It was his third top 10 finish in the last five events. He had four birdies and two bogeys on Saturday.

Classmate Corbin Mills had an even par 72 on Saturday. After shooting a two over par 38 on the front, he rallied with a two under score on the back. He had birdies on the 11th, 12th and 17th holes on the back side. He finished in 15th place with a 54 hole score of 217, one over par.

McCuen Elmore was Clemson’s third best golfer on Saturday with a one over par 73 and he finished with a 221 score for the three day. Junior Jacob Burger had a 74 on Saturday,as he had eight pars and a bogey on the last nine. He finished with a 218 score for the three days. Freshman Thomas Bradshaw had a 74 on Saturday and finished with a 223 score.