Clemson to Compete in Administaff Augusta State Invitational

April 2, 2008

Clemson, SC – The 15th ranked Clemson golf team will continue its busy schedule this weekend at the Administraff Augusta State Invitational. The 54-hole event will run Friday, April 4 through Sunday, April 6 at Champions Retreat Golf Club in Evans, GA. The course is a par 72 and will play to 7,403 yards.

Clemson is one of seven top 25 teams in the 18-team field according to the latest Golf World Coaches poll. Georgia (2), UCLA (5), Tennessee (9), Georgia Tech (10), South Carolina (13), Clemson (15) and East Tennessee State (23) are the top 25 teams in the national field. Other ACC teams include North Carolina, NC State and Virginia Tech. It will be Clemson’s fourth event since March 14, but the last tournament prior to the ACC Championships at The Old North State Club, April 18-20.

This will be the seventh straight year Clemson has competed at Augusta State. Clemson’s best finish during that time was a second place in 2003, the year Clemson won the national championship. The Tigers won the event in 1984, the same year it also had the individual champion. That year Jim Macfie won the event with a 213 score. Matt Hendrix is the only other Clemson golfer to win the tournament (2004).

Last year the Tigers finished 10th with a 874 score. Ben Martin and Kyle Stanley led Clemson with 215 scores, good enough for 12th place.

Clemson will be led this weekend by sophomores Kyle Stanley and Sam Saunders. Stanley has a 72.38 stroke average to lead the team, while Saunders is at 72.90. Stanley has finished in the top 10 four times this year, including a fifth place last weekend at the Furman Invitational. Saunders finished a career best seventh place at Furman.

Phillip Mollica has been Clemson’s most consistent player in the spring with three straight top 16 finishes. He was third at The Hootie Collegiate with a career best 208 score for the three rounds. He was 16th last week at Furman.

Zack Siefert will also be in the field at Augusta State. The senior played the Furman Invitational as an individual and finished fourth, his best career finish. He had a career best 217 score for the three days thanks to consistent rounds of 71-73-73. David May, a junior, who shot a 217 at The Hootie in his last outing, has a 73.83 stroke average and will be playing his fifth event of the season.