Golf Remains Atop Polls

May 13, 2003

Larry Penley’s Clemson golf team remains ranked number-one in the nation in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin national rankings released Tuesday. Clemson has been ranked number-one the entire spring in that computer ranking. The Tigers begin play in the NCAA East Regional on Thursday.

The Tigers are also ranked number-one in the Precept Division I Coach’s Poll, a position Clemson has held for each of the last six polls.

Clemson is first and Florida is second in the Sagarin/Golfweek Computer Poll. The Tigers have a margin of 0.96 rating points. Clemson’s distance between itself and Florida is equal to the margin in rating points between Florida and the 17th place team, New Mexico, an indication of Clemson’s strength in the computer poll this year.

Clemson has a 79-8-3 record in head to head tournament competition against the top Top 25 teams, by far the best top 25 record in the nation. Clemson is also ranked number-one by Golfweek in terms of strength of schedule.

Individually, Clemson has three of the top 10 players in the nation according to the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings. Leading the way is D.J. Trahan, who is ranked second individually with 69.28 rating points. Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State holds the top spot at 68.70. Clemson sophomore Jack Ferguson is ranked sixth with a 69.71 figure, while Matt Hendrix is 10th at 70.01 It is the highest ranking for Ferguson and Hendrix as collegiate golfers. Both are ranked ahead of Ricky Barnes of Arizona, who was the low amateur at the Masters last month. Barnes is ranked 11th.

Golfweek/Sagarin Computer Ranking        (May 13, 2003)        Rk      School  Rating        1.      Clemson         69.82        2.      Florida         70.78        3.      Wake Forest     70.82        4.      Texas           70.83        5.      Oklahoma State  70.92        6.      Augusta State   70.94        7.      Arizona         71.01        8.      TCU             71.07        9.      North Carolina  71.15        10.     UNLV            71.19        11.     UCLA            71.23        12.     Auburn          71.42        13.     Georgia         71.43        14.     Minnesota       71.51        15.     Georgia Tech    71.58        16.     Arizona State   71.73        17.     New Mexico      71.77        18.     Charleston      71.80        19.     NC State        71.81        20.     Arkansas        71.88

Golfweek/Sagarin Individual Computer Rankings Rk Player School Rating 1. Hunter Mahan Oklahoma State 68.70 2. D.J. Trahan Clemson 69.28 3. Bill Haas Wake Forest 69.43 4. Oliver Wilson Augusta State 69.58 5. Nick Watney Fresno State 69.61 6. Jack Ferguson Clemson 69.71 7. Brandt Snedeker Vanderbilt 69.74 8. Troy Matteson Georgia Tech 69.92 9. Dustin Bray North Carolina 69.93 10. Matt Hendrx Clemson 70.01 11. Ricky Barnes Arizona 70.04 12. Chris Nallen Arizona 70.05 13. Justin Walters NC State 70.06 14. David Inglis Tulsa 70.10 15. Jason Hartwick Texas 70.14