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Clemson Opens Play In NCAA Golf Regional

Clemson Opens Play In NCAA Golf Regional

May 16, 2001

Clemson opens play in the NCAA East Regional of the 2001 NCAA Golf championships on Thursday. The event will be played at the par 72, 7008-yard Green Course at the Golden Horseshoe Country Club in Williamsburg, VA. The Rees Jones designed course opened in October of 1991 and has been the site of US Amateur qualifying and the Senior Women’s Amateur.

Twenty-seven teams will compete at each of three NCAA Regional sites. The other sites are Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, OK, the site of the Central Regional, and Trysting Tree Golf Course in Corvallis, OR, the site of the West Regional. The top 10 teams at each regional will advance to the NCAA national championships at Duke University May 30 to June 2.

Clemson was one of six ACC teams to receive regional bids on May 8. Georgia Tech, Duke and NC State will join the Tigers in Williamsburg, VA at the East Regional. North Carolina will play in the Central Regional, while Wake Forest must travel to the West Regional.

Clemson will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 20th consecutive years, the 21st time overall and the 18th straight year under Head Coach Larry Penley. That is the longest streak of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances by any Clemson coach in any sport in history.

Clemson’s current streak of 19 consecutive NCAA National Championship appearances is second only to Oklahoma State’s record 54 straight appearances in the national event. Clemson can make it an even 20 in a row in the national tournament with a top 10 finish at the East Regional. Clemson has a streak of 65 consecutive top 10 finishes, including a streak of 11 straight top 5 finishes this year. Clemson has a streak of 49 straight finishes in the top half of the tournament field.

Clemson has won the NCAA East Regional four times, more than any other school. That includes the 2000 season when the Tigers captured the event at Glenmaura Country Club in Scranton, PA. Nationally, only Arizona has won more NCAA regional championships than Clemson. The Wildcats have won five West Regional titles.

Clemson will be led at the NCAA regional by senior All-Americans Lucas Glover and John Engler. Both finished tied for fourth at last year’s East Regional, helping Clemson to the team title. Engler has a 70.81 stroke average for the year and is ranked as high as third in the nation in one computer poll. He won the ACC Tournament in his last outing. Glover has a 71.16 stroke average for the season and won the Puerto Rico Classic in February. He is ranked as high as sixth in the nation. Engler and Glover rank one-two in Clemson history in career stroke average.

D.J. Trahan, a sophomore with a 72.92 stroke average, will be in the Clemson lineup at the NCAAs for the second straight year. He was Clemson’s high finisher at the NCAA national event at Auburn last year. Jani Saari and Gregg Jones will round out the Clemson lineup. Saari has played just five events this year, but has been a big factor in Clemson’s top 10 finishes each of the last two years. All eight of his career rounds in NCAA national play have counted towards the Clemson team figure. Jones is a freshman in his first NCAA Tournament and has a 74.90 stroke average for the year.

Clemson Lineup for NCAA Regional Tournament

Name Cl. Hometown Trns Avg
John Engler Gr. Augusta, GA 11 70.81
Lucas Glover Sr. Greenville, SC 11 71.16
D.J. Trahan So. Inman, SC 9 72.92
Gregg Jones Fr. Florence, SC 7 74.90
Jani Saari Gr. Greenville, SC 5 75.14

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