CLEMSON, S.C. — The Clemson men’s golf team will open its 2023-24 season at the Tennessee Intercollegiate at Tennessee National Golf Club in Knoxville, TN on Friday. The Tigers will compete in the 54-hole event against 13 other schools from around the nation.
This will be Clemson’s first appearance in the Tennessee Intercollegiate.
The tournament will be played Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Sept 8-10 on a course that has been ranked in the top 10 in the state of Tennessee. The field includes SEC schools Tennessee, Mississippi and Mississippi and ACC schools Clemson and Virginia Tech. The Big 12 is represented by new member Cincinnati and the field also includes Big 10 teams Wisconsin and Nebraska.
East Tennessee State, North Florida, South Florida, Charlotte, Toledo and UCONN round out the field.
Clemson is coming off an NCAA Tournament season in which it missed qualifying for the national tournament by just once shot after losing a playoff against Texas A&M. Jordan Byrd’s team returns five players who were starters at one time or another last year.
Leading the way will be Andrew Swanson, a junior who had a 71.39 stroke average last year. He had nine rounds in the 60s and 14 under-par rounds overall. His sophomore year included medalist honors at the Ka’anapali Classic in Hawaii when he had a score of of 18-under-par 195, a Clemson record for strokes under par in a 54-hole event. That included a final round 63.
Jonathan Nielsen is a senior in his second year with the Clemson program. He finished second on the Tigers team in stroke average last year at 71.87. He had 19 rounds at par or better to lead the team, including six rounds in the 60s. His season included a top 10 at The Blessings.
Kian Rose started in 10 of the 11 events last year and had a 72.03 stroke average. He had 15 under-par rounds to lead the team and posted eight rounds in the 60s. Rose was Clemson’s top golfer in the NCAA Regional with an 11-under par score of 205 to finish in eighth place.
Sophomore Thomas Higgins started four tournaments in the Clemson lineup last year as a freshman. The native of Ireland had a 73.61 stroke average last year and 14 of his 15 rounds were 75 or better.
The newcomer to the lineup will be Will Baker, a freshman from Statham, Georgia. The two-time AJGA winner received national acclaim from Golf Digest last spring when he made a hole-in-one on a 323-yard par four hole at Lane Creek Golf Club in Bishop, Ga. He finish his high school career as the third ranked player in Georgia in the class of 2023 according to Golfweek.
Albert Dominquez, a senior in his second year with the program, will compete as an individual. Dominquez had a 73.94 stroke average for six events last year.
