Clemson, SC—The Clemson men’s golf team will open play at the 2024 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship on Friday at the Charlotte Country Club in Charlotte, NC. The 12 ACC teams will compete in stroke play Friday through Sunday, April 19-21, with the teams playing 18 holes per day. The top four teams after the 54 holes of stroke play will advance to the Match Play Championship. Both the semifinals and the finals will be played on Monday, April 22.
The ACC is once again a strong conference in men’s golf with five of the teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation. The group is led by third ranked North Carolina and sixth ranked Florida State. The other schools that will compete for the championship are Virginia, Georgia Tech, Duke, Wake Forest, Notre Dame, Louisville, Clemson, N.C. State and Virginia Tech.
Twelve of the top 61 players in the latest spikemark.com national rankings are from the ACC with the highest ranked player being Luke Clanton of Florida State, who is ranked second.
Clemson has won the ACC Championship 11 times, including 2021 when the Tigers defeated Florida State in the match play championship, 3-2. Clemson also won the title in 1982, 1987 1988, 1990 (co champs), 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2016 when the title was based solely on stroke play.
Clemson golfers have won medalist honors eight times by seven different golfers. Charles Warren, the champion in 1997 and 1998, is the only two time winner. Clemson’s last individual ACC champion was Jacob Bridgeman in 2022.
Bridgeman is currently on the PGA Tour and will be one of 10 former Clemson golfer playing in PGA Tour events this weekend.
Clemson’s lineup will be composed of three seniors, a junior and a sophomore. Three of the five have played in the ACC Championship previously.
The Tigers are led by senior Jonathan Nielsen, who has a 70.82 stroke average with 11 rounds in the 60s, 16 under-par rounds and a team best 111 birdies. The native of Denmark has five top eighth finishes this year, including three of his last five tournaments. He finished third at The Goodwin and sixth at the Linger Longer within the last month. Nielsen has been Clemson’s top golfer in each of the last three tournaments.
Thomas Higgins, a sophomore from Ireland, will be in the number-two spot in the order. Higgins has a 72.86 stroke average for the year with a pair of top 10 finishes, including a fourth place at Briar’s Creek where he helped Clemson to the team championship. Higgins has played in all 10 tournaments so far this year and has 10 rounds at par or better.
Alberto Dominguez will hold down the number-three position in Jordan Byrd’s lineup this weekend. The native of Spain has a 72.74 stroke average, third on the team and has had five rounds at par or better. His best performance of the spring came at the Wake Forest Invitational on Pinehurst #2 where he shot 214 for 54 holes and finished in 13th place.
Calahan Keever, a senior transfer from Greenville, SC who started his college career at Anderson University, will be in his first ACC Championship. He has a 72.90 stroke average with year with four rounds in the 60s and eight rounds at par or better. He was Clemson’s second best golfer at Clemson’s most recent tournament, the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial at the University of Virginia. He shot 216 for the three rounds.
Andrew Swanson rounds out the Clemson lineup. The native of Bluffton, SC has the second best stroke average on the team with a 72.68 figure. He has six rounds in the 60s and 11 rounds at par or better. His 88 total birdies rank second on the Clemson team. Last year Swanson shot six-under-par 210 at the ACC Championship held at the Country Club of North Carolina in Pinehurst, NC and finished 23rd.
Clemson is without the services of junior starter Kian Rose, who is out for the year with an injury. Sean Curran, who finished 34th last week at the Chitengwa Memorial while playing as an individual, also will be the trip and will be available if a substitute is needed.
Live scoring and pairings will be available at golfstat.com.
For those interested in attending the ACC Men’s Golf Championship, the street address for the course is Charlotte Country Club, 2465 Mecklenburg Ave, Charlotte, NC 28205.
