Clemson, SC—Sophomore Thomas Higgins shot a career best tying 65 on Saturday to lead the Clemson men’s golf team to a 282 team score and a tie for sixth place standing after two rounds of the ACC Men’s Golf Championship at Charlotte Country Club in Charlotte, NC.
Clemson is in sixth place with a team score of four-under-par 564, but Jordan Byrd’s team is just two shots off the fourth-place cutline to qualify for the match play championship on Monday. The 12 teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference play 54 holes of stroke play between Friday and Sunday to determine the four teams that will advance to the match play championship. Those four teams will play the semifinals and finals of the match play tournament to determine the champion.
North Carolina has the team lead after two rounds with a 552 score, 16-under par. Florida State is second with a 555 total (-13), while Georgia Tech is third at 560. Duke is fourth at 562, but is just one shot ahead of fifth-place Wake Forest (563) and just two shots ahead of Virginia, Clemson and Louisville who are all tied for sixth at 564.
Higgins round on Saturday included seven birdies and just one bogey. He played his final 11 holes six-under- par, including a 31 on the back nine. His 65 tied for the second best round in an ACC Tournament by a Clemson golfer and was the best since David May shot a 65 in the second round in 2006. The only ACC round better than Higgins performance on Saturday was a 63 by Brad Clark in the second round in 1985.
Higgins shot a 74 in the first round then improved 36 places with his 65 on Saturday, the biggest improvement by any golfer in the second round. The native of Ireland stands in 12th place after 36 holes, best among Clemson golfers.
Higgins was the only Clemson golfer to shoot par or better on Saturday, but Clemson’s other four golfers all shot between 72 and 74. Andrew Swanson had 16 pars in his first round on Friday, but had more of a wild ride on Saturday with five bogeys and four birdies on the way to a 72. His 143 total through 36 holes is tied for 28th place.
Calahan Keever also had a 72 on Saturday and stands in 41st place with a 145 total through 36 holes. Alberto Dominguez had a second round 73 and is in a tie for 34th place with a 144 total.
Jonathan Nielsen, Clemson’s top golfer for the year with a 70.82 stroke average, shot 67 in the first round, but had a 74 in the second round. He did play the last seven holes in one under par.
Third round play begins on Sunday at 8 a.m. Live scoring will be available on clemsontigers.com.
