Golf Begins NCAA Tournament Play on Thursday

May 19, 2005

Larry Penley’s Tiger golf team begins play at the NCAA East Regional Tournament on Thursday. The Tigers will tee off between 12:09 and 12:45 PM Central Time. Clemson will have an early morning tee time on Friday. Third round tee times will be a function of the standings after two rounds.

The Tigers, who are in the tournament for the 24th consecutive year, the second longest active streak in the nation behind Oklahoma State, will compete with 26 other schools (Thursday-Saturday) at the par 71 Country Club of Tennessee in Nashville. The top 10 teams in the East Regional will join the top 10 from the West Regional (Stanford) and the Central Regional (Notre Dame) at Caves Valley Golf Club outside Baltimore June 1-4.

Clemson is one of seven ACC teams who will compete in the East Regional. The others are Georgia Tech, Duke, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Virginia and Maryland. Future ACC school Boston College also received a bid to the East Regional.

Clemson has won the NCAA East Regional each of the last three years, the second time in Larry Penley’s career the Tigers have won three consecutive NCAA Regionals. Penley has won the East Regional seven times overall, more than any other coach and Clemson’s seven regional titles also stand as an NCAA record.

This will be Clemson’s first trip to the Country Club of Tennessee for a stroke play tournament. The Tigers did play a one-day head-to-head match play event against Vanderbilt in April so they are familiar with the course.

All-ACC golfers Jack Ferguson and Brent Delahoussaye will lead the Tigers into the regional. Ferguson led Clemson in stroke average this year with a 73.70 figure. The senior from Seneca had three top 10 finishes, including a fourth-place finish at the ACC Tournament three weeks ago. He also had a top 10 at the Jerry Pate, and at The Ridges. His 72.46 stroke average is fifth best in Clemson history. He has 41 rounds under par and 21 at par among his 128 career rounds as a Clemson golfer.

Delahoussaye was named to the All-ACC team for the first time in his career. A transfer from South Carolina, Delahoussaye was second on the Clemson team in stroke average this year with a 74.06 figure. He had a top 10 finish at The Ridges in September and a fourth place finish at the ACC Tournament in April. Delahoussaye was Clemson’s top player at the East Regional last year when he finished fourth individually with a 211 score, leading Clemson to the team championship.

Also competing for the Tigers at the Regional will be junior Brian Duncan, junior Stephen Poole and freshman Tanner Ervin.