Clemson Golf Team Travels To Cleveland/Augusta State Invitational

April 5, 2002

Clemson, SC — The Clemson men’s golf team will be back in action this weekend at the 24th annual Cleveland/Augusta State Invitational in Augusta, GA. The event will be held at the Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta. It will be Clemson’s first trip to this tournament.

Clemson is ranked second in the country by Sagarin/Golfweek, third by the Golf Coaches Association and fourth by Golf World in the latest polls. Clemson has not played since finishing sixth at the Chris Schenkel Invitational in Statesboro, GA. It was just the second time in the last two years that Clemson did not finish in the top five of a tournament.

This week’s field includes 10 of the top 25 players and eight of the top 20 teams in the nation according to the latest Sagarin individual rankings. Clemson’s top player in those rankings is D.J. Trahan, a junior from Inman, SC, who is rated fourth..

Trahan will be making his first start since winning the Azalea Invitational in Charleston last weekend, an amateur event that lifted him to #2 in the world amateur rankings according to Golfweek. That event did not count towards his Clemson statistics. For the Tigers this season, Trahan has a 70.44 stroke average, a record pace. He has 17 rounds 23 rounds at par or better in his 27 rounds this year.

Gregg Jones, ranked 20th in the country according to the Sagarin poll, will be joining Trahan at the top of the Clemson lineup. Jones has a 72.46 ranking, including a pair of top five finishes in the spring.

Ben Duncan, Clemson’s most improved golfer this spring, will also be in the Clemson lineup. He has three straight top 20 finishes, including a two-under-par 214 at Puerto Rico to start the spring season. He finished a strong eighth place at the Azalea last weekend.

Matt Hendrix and Martin Catalioto will round out the Clemson lineup that will travel to Augusta. Hendrix has been Clemson’s most consistent golfer, finishing between 26 and 37th in every tournament so far this year. He carried a 73.92 stroke average, just behind Duncan’s 73.80. Catalioto will be back in the lineup after missing the Schenkel. The freshman had a season best 71 in his last round in Las Vegas and has a 75.5 average for the academic year.

Clemson will join the other 14 teams in playing 36 holes on Saturday. The Tournament concludes with 18 holes on Sunday. This will be Clemson’s final tournament before the ACC Tournament, which will be held at the Old North State Club in Uwarrie Point, NC April 19-21.