Clemson, SC — Jordan Byrd’s Clemson men’s golf team was selected to the NCAA Regional Golf Tournament on Wednesday, the 42nd consecutive regional tournament for the program.The streak is the longest in terms of consecutive NCAA Tournaments in Clemson sports history.
Clemson was selected for the Chapel Hill Regional at the Finley course on the University of North Carolina campus. The tournament will be held May 13-15 with 18 holes being played each day.
The 13-team field in Chapel Hill includes #1 seed North Carolina, the #4 ranked team in the nation, second-seeded Alabama, ranked ninth overall, and third-seed Georgia Tech, ranked 17th in the nation. East Tennessee State is seeded fourth and ranked 21st, giving the regional four of the top 25 teams in the nation.
Other teams in the Chapel Hill Regional include fifth seeded Northwestern, (6) Baylor, (7) Virginia Commonwealth, (8) Loyola Marymount, (9) Long Beach State, (10) Clemson, (11) Michigan State, (12) Ball State and (13) Howard.
Clemson has been selected every year there has been an NCAA tournament since 1982. There was no tournament in 2020 due to COVID19.
The regional format of the NCAA Tournament began in 1989 and Clemson has advanced to the National Championship tournament from the regional 25 of the previous 34 tournaments, including six of the last eight. Clemson has made the national tournament 33 times overall dating to a 12th-place finish at Ohio State in 1980.
Clemson finished tied for fifth out of 14 teams at the NCAA Regional that Clemson hosted in Salem, SC last year. Clemson lost in a one-hole playoff to Texas A&M for the last spot in the national tournament.
The top five teams in the regional will advance to the National Championship tournament, which will be played at Omni LaCosta Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California, May 24-29.
This year’s Clemson team is seeded 10th at the Chapel Hill Regional. The Tigers are led by senior Jonathan Nielsen, who has a 71.16 stroke average for the year in 31 rounds. He has 12 rounds in the 60s and 17 under-par rounds. Five times he has had a top 10 finish, with all five coming with top 8 finishes.
Andrew Swanson has a 72.68 average with two top 10s and two top 10 finishes, while Thomas Higgins has a 72.74 average with two top 10s. Alberto Dominguez has a 72.85 average and Calahan Keever has a 73.00 average. Swanson, Nielsen and Higgins will all be playing in their second NCAA Tournament.
