Clemson To Compete in Palmetto Cleveland Golf Invitational

Clemson, SC—The Clemson men’s golf team will compete in the Palmetto Cleveland Golf Invitational March 10-11 at the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, SC.  The 54 hole event will be played Monday (36 holes) and Tuesday (18 holes) this week, with 15 teams in the field.

This will be Clemson’s first appearance at the Palmetto Cleveland Golf Invitational since 2021 when Clemson won the event with a score of 19-under-par.  Clemson has actually won the tournament three of the last four times it has played and has 10 championships overall dating back to a victory 1987.   Clemson first competed in the tournament in 1968.

A Clemson golfer has taken medalist honors four times, including current PGA Tour player Jacob Bridgeman who won in 2020 and 2021.  Other Clemson champions of this tournament have been Jason Griffith (1987) and Chris Patton (1990).

The Palmetto Golf Club is one of the oldest in the country.  It opened in 1892 with four holes and had a full 18 hole course by 1895. It was ranked as the 10th best course in South Carolina by Golf Digest in 2024.

Coach Jordan Byrd will take two seniors, two juniors and a freshman to the Palmetto.  Kian Rose will be in the number-one position with a 72.00 stroke average and eight under-par rounds.  Rose was co-medalist at Briar’s Creek, the only Clemson golfer to win a tournament so far this year.  The Palmetto will be his 24th career tournament and he is a veteran of 100 rounds as a Clemson golfer.

Lucas Augustsson is coming off his top finish of the year.  He led Clemson at Watersound with a 213 score and a 14th place finish.    The transfer from East Carolina has a 73.17 stroke average with five rounds at par or better.

Andrew Swanson, a senior from Bluffton, SC, will play the number-three position in the Clemson lineup.  He is second on the team in stroke average and leads the team in under-par rounds with nine.  He has a 72.06 stroke average, just off Rose’s team leading pace.  Swanson’s best tournament of the year was at The Steelwood where he finished second with a score of 203, the low 54 hole score of the year by a Clemson golfer.

Freshman Rich Wills will be in the Clemson lineup at the number-four position.  The native of Cramerton, NC has a 72.50 stroke average for the year, third best on the team.  He has eight rounds at par or better this year, tied for second on the team.

Junior Thomas Higgins rounds out the  lineup with a 75.00 stroke average.  The native of Ireland  had his best tournament at Briar’s Creek where finished 31st with a 217 score.

Live scoring will be available HERE.