Clemson to Compete in Augusta State Invitational

March 30, 2011

CLEMSON, SC – Fresh off its championship at the Furman Invitational, the Clemson golf team will compete this weekend in the Insperity Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Country Club in Augusta, GA. The 16 teams will play 36 holes on Saturday and 18 on Sunday on the par 72 course.

The list of teams in the national field include number-one ranked Oklahoma State, number-two ranked UCLA, number-three ranked Alabama, and number-six ranked and defending NCAA Champion Augusta State. The national field also includes Houston, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, South Carolina and Washington.

This will be Clemson’s ninth appearance in the Augusta State Invitational. The Tigers finished fourth last year with an 845 score. Clemson’s best finish took place in 2003, during Clemson’s National Championship season, when the Tigers finished second in the 17-team field with an 822 score. Matt Hendrix is the only Tiger to win medalist honors as he won the 2004 tournament with a 207 score.

As expected, Head Coach Larry Penley will bring the same lineup to Augusta that he used in winning the Furman Invitational. Thomas Bradshaw, who was Clemson’s number-five man at Furman, will be in the lineup for the third straight event. He finished third at Furman with a 209 score, including a 64 in the final round, tying a Clemson record for lowest final round at any tournament and just one shot off the Clemson record for any round. Bradshaw has a team best 72.67 stroke average for his six rounds so far this year.

Jacob Burger, second on the Clemson team with a 73.52 average, also will be in the Tigers lineup this weekend. Burger has been Mr. consistency for the Tigers over the last year and has two top 10s and four top 20s so far this year. He recently finished 14th at the Azalea Amateur in Charleston, the best finish among the active Tigers who competed in that event.

Sophomores Corbin Mills and Crawford Reeves will also be in the Clemson lineup in Augusta. Both have the exact same 73.76 stroke average for 21 rounds this year, but Reeves has been the stronger golfer this spring. The native of Greenville has finished 11th or better in each of his last three events, including a sixth-place finish at the Furman Invitational. Mills had a third-place finish in the first tournament of the spring at the Jacksonville Invitational.

McCuen Elmore will be the fifth Tiger in the lineup. He is coming off a career best round of 69 in the final round at Furman, where he finished 15th in the individual race. He has a 74.46 stroke average for the year and has a team best tying five rounds at under par.

Augusta, GA native Alex Boyd also will participate at the Augusta State Invitational. He is coming off an even par 216 score at the Furman Invitational, good enough for a 15th place finish.

This will be Clemson’s last regular season tournament prior to the ACC Tournament, which will be held April 22-24 at the Old North State Club in Uwharrie Point, NC.