New London, NC.—After rounds of 67 and 70 on a 36-hole day on Thursday, Clemson’s Bryson Nimmer stands in fourth place at the ACC Men’s Golf Championships at the Old North State Club in New London, NC.
Nimmer’s 137 total leads the Clemson team that stands in sixth place entering the final round. The final round of the tournament will be played on Saturday. The 12 teams played 36 holes on Thursday in anticipation of bad weather on Friday.
Georgia Tech has the team lead at 30-under par 546, 17 shots ahead of Florida State, Duke and Virginia, who are all tied for second. Clemson is in sixth place at 570, but the Tigers stand just six shots out of second place. The Tigers are just four shots behind third-ranked Wake Forest, who is fifth.
It was strange day for Larry Penley’s team, as the Tigers shot 13-under-par 275 in the morning round and stood in second place, just four shots behind Duke. Clemson started the second round strong and had a two shots lead at 15-under par through the first four holes.
But the Tigers hit a bad stretch in on holes 5-10, playing those six holes at a combined 10 over par. “That stretch on holes 5-10 was the worst we have played all year,” said Penley. Clemson shot 295 as a team in the second round, seven-over par, breaking a streak of 12 straight under-par team rounds for the Tigers at The Old North State Club.
Nimmer is six shots out of the lead entering Saturday’s final round with his 137 total. He is tied for fourth with Notre Dame’s Miguel Delgado. Andy Ogletree of Georgia Tech leads the way at 131, 13-under-par. John Pak of Florida State is second at 134 and David Morgan of Virginia is third at 136.
Nimmer’s opening round 67 was his 17th round in the 60s this year and broke the previous record of 16 rounds in the 60s by D.J. Trahan set in 2001-02. It was his 43rd career round in the 60s, just two off of Trahan’s career record of 45.
Nimmer, who has already won a school record four tournaments this year, had 11 birdies and an eagle on the day, giving him 495 career birdies. He needs just five birdies on Saturday to become the fourth player in Clemson history to reach 500 birdies in a career.
With his second round 70, Nimmer now has 69 under-par rounds for his career. He moved into second place in Clemson history in that category, ahead of John Engler, who had 68 between 1997-01. Trahan is still the leader in that category with 78.
Nimmer had plenty of help in the first round as three of his teammates broke par. Kyle Cottam had an opening round 68 thanks to five birdies and just one bogey. It was his first round in the 60s this spring.
William Nottingham and Jacob Bridgeman had rounds of two-under-par 70 in the morning. Nottingham had a season high six birdies on the way to his opening 70. Bridgeman birdied the first two holes, then made 16 straight pars.
Cottam followed up his 68 with a second round 75 and stands in 19th place after 36 holes at 143, one-under-par. He shot two-under par at the ACC Championship last year when he finished 28th.
Nottingham and Bridgeman both had second round scores of 75 and stand in a tie for 28th place at one-over-par 145 through 36 holes. Colby Patton had rounds of 75-76 and his 151 after two rounds and is in 56th place.
Live scoring will be available on golfstat.com on Saturday. ACC Network Extra also will broadcast the final round on Saturday afternoon from 1:pm to 2:30 pm.
