Stillwater, Okla.—The No. 11 seeded Clemson’s men’s golf team begins pursuit of its second NCAA National Golf Championship at the same course the Tigers captured their first title 15 years ago when Colby Patton tees off on the first hole at 2:27 p.m. Eastern time on Friday afternoon.
Larry Penley’s team will be one of 30 golf teams from around the country beginning play at the par 72 Karsten Creek course that measures 7,460 yards in length. Clemson is playing with 10th seeded Texas Tech and 12th seeded Texas for the first two rounds.
After Patton leads off for the Tigers, Kyle Cottam will tee off at 1:48 p.m., Turk Pettit at 1: 59 p.m., Bryson Nimmer at 2:10 p.m. Doc Redman will be Clemson’s final player with a 2:21 p.m. tee time in one of the top groups of the day. The Clemson All-American is paired with 10th ranked Fredrick Nilehn of Texas Tech and 8th ranked Doug Ghim of Texas. Ghim is the player Redman defeated in 37 holes to win the US Amateur in Los Angeles, Cal. last August.
Redman is ranked 38th nationally by Golfstat, as he has played just six college tournaments this year due to his invitations to three PGA Tour events after winning the US Amateur. But, the sophomore has been Clemson’s top player in postseason play, finishing second at the ACC Tournament and the NCAA Regional with a combined 24-under-par for the six rounds, leading Clemson to a pair of impressive second place team finishes.
Bryson Nimmer got his week off to a good start when he made a hole-in-one during Thursday’s practice round at the third hole. Nimmer hit a five iron, 201 yards into the cup for the fourth ace of his golfing career.
Penley is taking his 28th Clemson team to the NCAA National Tournament. His career best moment took place at Karsten Creek this same week in May of 2003 when Clemson won the National Championship by two shots over the home team Oklahoma State Cowboys.
He is a good one to evaluate the course relative to how it played 15 years ago. “It is not as fast as it was in 2003, which means it will play longer,” said Penley after Clemson’s Thursday’s practice round. “There is not as much roll on drives as there was, but the greens are not as fast right now as they were in 2003. They could be by the end of the tournament.
“There will be some good scores on Friday if the wind does not blow. It could be a long afternoon (for everyone) if the wind kicks up.” The course measures at 7,460 yards, 173 yards longer than any course Clemson has played this year and 159 yards longer than Karsten Creek played in 2003 for the NCAA Championship.
Live scoring will be available at golfstat.com. Coverage of the tournament on the Golf Channel begins on Monday afternoon.
