CLEMSON, S.C. — Jacob Bridgeman and Kyle Cottam both shot rounds of one-over-par 73 to lead Clemson to an eighth-place standing out of 14 teams after the first round of the Watersound Invitational at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club in Panama City, Fla. Shark’s Tooth also will be the site of the 2022 ACC Championship.
The 14-team field includes 12 ACC teams plus Alabama and Arkansas from the SEC. Five teams are ranked in the top 25 in the nation and 10 are in the top 40. Clemson is ranked 26th.
Georgia Tech has the first round lead at 285, three-under par. Virginia Tech and North Carolina are tied for second at 286 and NC State is fourth at 287. Virginia stands in fifth at 291, and Louisville is sixth at 292. Arkansas stands in seventh place at 293, one shot better than the Tigers. Clemson’s six-over-par score is one shot ahead of 12th ranked Wake Forest and seven better than 15th ranked Notre Dame.
All five Clemson golfers were within one shot of each other. In addition to Bridgeman and Cottam shooting 73, Colby Patton, freshman Kian Rose and Zack Gordon all had rounds of two-over-par 74.
Clemson got off to a strong start with a four-under par score for the first six holes, two shots ahead of the field. Clemson then played holes 10-15 at 10-over par, and that dropped Clemson down the leader board. Jordan Byrd’s team finished strong by playing the last three holes at two-under-par as a team.
Bridgeman and Cottam stand in a tie for 21st, while Patton, Rose and Gordon are tied for 30th. Patton’s round included a two-under-par performance on the par three holes, best in the field of 72 golfers. Bridgeman made birdie on each of the last two holes to get to one-over. Gordon and Bridgeman led the Tigers with four birdies apiece.
Action continues on the par 72 course that measure 7,202 yards Monday morning when the field plays 18 more holes. The tournament concludes on Tuesday. Live scoring is available on golfstat.com.
