Clemson to Play in Augusta State Invitational

April 1, 2010

Clemson, SC- Luke Hopkins will lead the Clemson golf team to Augusta, GA this weekend as the Tigers compete in the 32nd annual Administaff Augusta State Invitational. The 18 teams will play 36 holes on Saturday, April 3, then the tournament concludes on Easter Sunday with 18 holes. The action starts Saturday morning at 8:30 AM.

The tournament will be played at the Donald Ross designed Forest Hills Golf Club, a par 72 course that is 7,231 yards in length. Clemson had its lowest score vs. par in history at this course seven years ago when a Tigers team that would win the National Championship shot a 42-under par 822 score. Clemson shot an 18-under par 270 in that tournament as a team in the third round, but lost the tournament two shots to Augusta State.

The field includes five teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation. The teams are led by the host school, Augusta State, ranked third in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Clemson is 14th by that computer service. Augusta State is the defending champion.

This will be Clemson’s eighth appearance at this event. Clemson has never won the tournament, but finished second in 2003 and third in 2002 and 2006. It will be Clemson’s firs appearance since 2008.

Clemson will take a young team to Augusta, GA this weekend. Hopkins has a 73.09 stroke average, second best on the team. Number-one player Ben Martin will be in Augusta this weekend, but he will on the other side of town preparing for next week’s Masters.

Hopkins has four top 10 finishes this year, including three of his last four. He had a 10th place at The Hootie earlier this week, Clemson’s top finish at the event.

Jacob Burger has also developed some consistency in his sophomore year and has a 73.40 stroke average, third best on the team. He finished 17th at the USC-Aiken Cleveland Classic, eighth at Furman and 17th at The Hootie in his last three events.

Corbin Mills has taken just one more shot in his seven tournaments than Burger. The freshman has a 73.45 stroke average, fourth best on the team. Mills had a fifth place finish at Jacksonville and a third place at Furman to highlight his spring.

Crawford Reeves is a second first-year freshman in the lineup this weekend. The native of Greenville, SC shot a 68 in the second round at The Hootie earlier this week, the top round by a Tiger in the tournament.

Alex Boyd, a native of Augusta, who has played the Forest Hills Golf Club course many times, will round out Clemson’s lineup. It will be just his third tournament of the year. He finished 33rd at the Carpet Classic back in the fall and this will be just his second spring event.

Fans can follow the progress of the tournament scoring at golfstat.com.