CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson will compete in its final tournament of the fall at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate in Alpharetta, Ga. this weekend (Oct. 24-26). Clemson will be one of 14 teams in the field that will include nine of the top 30 teams in the nation, including top ranked Virginia and ninth ranked Utah.
Clemson is ranked 27th in the nation according to the October 22 Clippd College Golf rankings. The field includes ACC teams Virginia (ranked #1), Georgia Tech (18), Clemson (27) Duke (29), Stanford (44), Florida State (46), and Boston College. Big 10 schools UCLA (15), Southern California (26) and Washington (34) also will compete. The field also includes ninth-ranked Utah, 14th ranked Pepperdine, 24th ranked Charlotte and Loyola Marymount.
The teams will play 18 holes per day Friday, Saturday and Sunday on the par 72 course that measures over 7000 yards.
This will be Clemson’s 18th appearance at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, which has also been known at the US Collegiate. Clemson won the tournament in 2006 and 2009 and has five top five finishes in 17 previous appearances. Clemson’s best team score for 54 holes at the Golf Club of Georgia is 16-under-par 848 in 2017. Stephen Poole is the only Clemson golfer to win the tournament. He won the tournament known as the US Collegiate in 2005-06 when he shot 211 over 54 holes.
Clemson finished ninth out of 14 teams last year. Andrew Swanson was Clemson’s best golfer a year ago with an 11th place finish thanks to a four-under-par score of 212. Rich Wills, (20th, 215), Colin Salema (43rd, 220) and Lucas Augustsson (72nd, 229) were in the lineup last year and will be in Jordan Byrd’s lineup this year.
Clemson’s lineup will include the return of Oscar Bredkjaer, Clemson’s leader in stroke average this year with a 70.89 average. He missed Clemson’s last tournament at the Marquette Invitational when he was competing in the World Amateur Team Championship in Singapore. He finished 11th out of 108 players in that tournament.
Senior Thomas Higgins will be in the number-two position at the Golf Club of Georgia. Higgins leads the team in top 10 finishes this year with three and has six rounds at par or better this year. He has a 72.75 stroke average for the season and has 30 rounds at par or better for the year. This will be the 32nd tournament of his Clemson career.
Sophomores Wills and Salema are both coming off top 10 finishes at Marquette where they helped Clemson to the team championship. Salema finished third at Marquette with a 217 score and he has a 73.58 average this year. Wills has a 72.42 stroke average after his 10th place finish at Marquette with a 222 score. Wills has been consistent with a top 28 finish in all four events.
Lucas Augustsson is third on the team in stroke average so far this year with a 71.83 figure. He has a pair of top 10s and has a team best five rounds in the 60s. He has scored 75 or better in 11 out of 12 rounds this year and 35 out of 41 rounds over two years.
Clemson is coming off its first win of the season when the Tigers finished first in a 14-team field at the Marquette Invitational at Erin Hills. It marked the second consecutive tournament that Clemson has had three top 10 finishers. Clemson has an overall record of 42-9-2 against the field over its first four tournaments.
Live scoring will be available HERE.
