Men’s Golf Hits The Road To Battle In ACC Tournament

April 12, 2000

Men’s Golf Hits The Road To Battle In ACC Tournament Tigers look for sixth conferenc title.

Clemson To Compete in ACC Tournament Clemson will compete in the 47th annual Atlantic Coast Conference Golf Tournament April 21-23 at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie, NC. Clemson has played in every ACC Tournament and won the event five times outright and tied for the title once. Clemson’s ACC Championship years have come in 1982, 1987, 1988, 1997 and 1998.

Clemson finished fourth last year with an 876 team score. Clemson won the event on the same course in 1998 with an 836 score. The Tigers have finished in the fop four of the tournament five straight yearss and seven of the last eight. The Tigers will be among the favorites, considering their number-two national ranking, but number-one ranked Georgia Tech is obviously also in the field.

Clemson will bring a young team to the Old North State Club with just one senior in the lineup. That one senior is All-American Jonathan Byrd, who has three straight top 10 finishes at the ACC Tournament. He shot a 210, good enough for six-under-par in 1998. He has a 71.89 career average at the ACC Tournament for nine rounds.

John Engler, a junior from Augusta, will be making his third straight appearance in the event and has a 70.83 career average for his six rounds. He will be looking for a third straight top five finish. He was fifth in 1998 as a freshman and fourth in 1997 as a sophomore.

D.J. Trahan will be in Clemson’s lineup at the ACC Tournament. The freshman has a 71.90 stroke average for the year. Clemson’s fifth player will be either Ben Duncan, a freshman, or Jani Saari, a junior. They have alternated the fifth spot in the lineup this spring.

Clemson’s Tentative Lineup for the ACC Tournament

Last Year at ACC Tournament Tigers Finish Fourth at ACC Tournament John Engler was Clemson’s top finisher at the 1999 ACC golf tournament. The Tigers finished fourth as a team and Engler was fourth individually on the par 72 Old North State Club in New London, NC.

The Tigers struggled in the final round as none of Clemson’s five golfers had a score of par of better, leading to a team score of 297, Clemson’s worst team round of the event. Georgia Tech finished first with an 863 team total, including a tournament best 285 on Sunday. Four of Georgia Tech’s five golfers shot par or better on Sunday. Clemson had a final team score of 876.

Duke and North Carolina finished in a tie for second with 873 scores. Duke had a 291 team score on Sunday, second best on the day, and Matt Krauss of the Blue Devils won the tournament with a 212 score. He shot a 69 on Sunday, one of just two scores in the 60s in the final round.

Clemson was tied for the lead after six holes and trailed Georgia Tech by just six entering the final three holes. Clemson played the first 51 holes of the event in five over par as a team, then played the last three holes seven over. Clemson was in second place by four shots entering the final three holes, then finished fourth.

NC State was fifth with an 884 score, eight shots behind Clemson. Maryland finished sixth at 905, Virginia was seventh at 906, Wake Forest was eighth at 908 and Florida State was last at 919.

Engler finished with bogies on the last two holes to conclude with a final round 74 and an even par tournament. He was tied for the lead entering the final round. His 216 score tied for fourth and it was his second straight year in the top five. Jonathan Byrd had his third straight top 10 at the ACC Tournament. He finished ninth with a score of 218 after a 74 on Sunday.

Freshman Michael Hoey was tied for 12th at 220 after a 75 on Sunday, while Lucas Glover finished tied for 18th at 222 after a third straight 74. Glover was three under par on Sunday’s round at one point on the back nine, but played the last two holes three over par. Elliot Gealy had a 78 on Sunday and his 227 score for the event ranked 29th.

Tigers Have Eight Straight Under-par Tournaments Clemson has had eight consecutive tournaments under par, an all-time school record. In fact, the eight under-par tournaments is already a record for under-par tournaments in a season and there are still three events left on the 12-tournament schedule. Clemson has been under par in every tournament except the first event of the year when Clemson shot an 890, 26-over-par at The Ridges in Johnson City, TN.

Over the last seven events Clemson has finished first just once, but has four second place finishes. All four of those events were high profile fields that included at least eight top 20 teams. Clemson finished second at the US Collegiate April 7-9 and that 12-team field included 10 top 15 teams.

This Clemson team is on the verge of setting some school records in many areas. Here is a list of records in range for this team:

Clemson Ranked Second in Mastercard Poll April 5, 2000 Clemson, SC– The Clemson golf team was ranked second in the nation according to the April 5, 2000 MasterCard coaches poll, released by the College Golf Foundation. Clemson trailed only conference rival Georgia Tech on the national scene. With a one-two finish at the US Collegiate, that ranking should stay the same for the ACC Tournament.

Clemson had four golfers ranked in the top 25 in the nation according to that ranking. Lucas Glover of Greenville leads the way with a number-four ranking. John Engler of Augusta, GA is ranked 13th while D.J. Trahan of Spartanburg is 15th. Jonathan Byrd, Clemson first team academic and on the course All-American last year, is 23rd.

MasterCard College Golf Rankings April 5, 2000

 1  Georgia Tech 2  Clemson 3  Northwestern 4  Arizona State 5  Brigham Young 6  Georgia 7  Oklahoma State 8  Fresno State 9  UNLV 10 Houston 11 Arizona 12 Augusta State 13 Stanford 14 Kent 15 Washington 16 Texas 17 New Mexico 18 North Carolina State 19 Florida 20 North Florida 

Men’s Individual Rankings April 5, 2000

Rank Player         Year School                Points 1   Matt Kuchar     SR  Georgia Tech          268.717 2   Luke Donald     JR  Northwestern          261.666 3   Bryce Molder    JR  Georgia Tech          238.625 4   Lucas Glover    JR  Clemson University    237.872 5   Charles Howell  JR  Oklahoma State U.     205.400 6   Paul Casey      JR  Arizona State U.      202.500 7   Nick Cassini    JR  Georgia, U. of        196.842 8   Max Harris      SR  North Carolina, U of  184.260 9   Jeremy Anderson SR  UNLV                  184.002 10  Andy Miller     SR  Brigham Young Univ.   179.095 11  Jess Daley      SR  Northwestern          178.700 12  Martin Maritz   SR  Tulsa, U. of          171.753 13  John Engler     JR  Clemson University    167.370 14  Ben Curtis      SR  Kent                  161.368 15  D.J. Trahan     FR  Clemson University    157.248 23  Jonathan Byrd   SR  Clemson University    123.717

Trahan National Player of the Month PRINCETON, N.J. – Clemson University freshman D.J. Trahan (Inman, South Carolina) was named the Rolex College Golfers of the Month for March, after both won individual titles at Rolex Collegiate Tour events last month.

Trahan won the Las Vegas Intercollegiate, his first Rolex Collegiate Tour victory of the season, after a playoff with Matt Brost of Texas. Trahan fired a nine-under par 207 (73-68-66) while helping to lead Clemson to a sixth-place finish.

Trahan, who was named the Golf World Collegiate Player of the Week for the week of March 17th, also tied for 18th place at the Schenkel E-Z-GO Invitational, where he shot 72-70-73 (215, -1) while helping the Tigers to a second place finish. Ranked No. 15 in the latest edition of the MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings, Trahan finished the month with a stroke average of 70.33 (six rounds).

Trahan will also be featured in Sports Illustrated’s Faces in the Crowd section on April 17th. The Rolex College Golfer of the Month award is voted on by members of the College Golf Foundation’s Golfer of the Month Committee. The award is based primarily on results from Rolex Collegiate Tour events, plus conference championships, NCAA Regionals and the NCAA Championships. Each winner will receive a certificate from the College Golf Foundation in recognition of this honor.

Byrd Sets Career Record for Under-Par Rounds Jonathan Byrd became Clemson’s all-time career leader in under-par rounds when he had three straight under-par scores at the Chris Schenkel Invitational March 25-26. Byrd’s second under-par round of the tournament, a one-under 71 in the second round on Saturday, was his 54th as a Clemson Tiger, breaking the record of 53 held by Kevin Johnson between 1985-89.

Byrd had three more at the US Collegiate, giving him a streak of seven straight under-par rounds. He now has 58 entering the ACC Tournament. He has achieved all those under par rounds in 48 career tournaments and 145 total rounds.

Byrd tied another Clemson career record at the US Collegiate in Mexico. He now has 58 rounds under par and 12 at par, giving him 70 for his career at par or better, the same total Chris Patton had between 1986-90. Byrd has 19 rounds at par or better this year, 15 under-par and four at par. The Clemson record for rounds at par or better in a season is 26 by Charles Warren in 1997-98.

It is also interesting to note that current juniors John Engler and Lucas Glover are ranked sixth and seventh in Clemson history in rounds under par. Glover has 16 under-par rounds this year, while Engler has 14. Engler stands at 39 under-par rounds for his career, while Glover is close behind with 38. With this career ranking it is easy to see why Engler, Glover and Byrd rank 1-2-3 in career stroke average at Clemson.

Clemson Career Leaders Rounds Under Par

Clemson Career Leaders in Rounds at Par or better

Clemson Finishes Second at Chris Schenkel E-Z Go Invitational Lucas Glover, John Engler, Jonathan Byrd and D.J. Trahan all had under-par tournaments, leading Clemson to a second-place team finish at the Chris Schenkel E-Z-Go Invitational at Forest Heights Country Club in Statesboro, GA.

Clemson shot 282 on Sunday, the best team score of the day, but the Tigers could not overcome defending national champion Georgia, who had a 15 stroke lead entering the final day and finished with an 829 score. The Tigers were second with an 846 team score, six strokes ahead of third place NC State, who had 852. Clemson’s 846 score was its second best 54-hole team score of the year.

Florida and Duke tied for fourth with 861 scores, while Augusta State wassixth at 865 and South Carolina was seventh at 869. TCU was eighth at 870, while Northwestern, ranked third in the nation entering the event, was ninth at 872, 26 strokes behind the Tigers.

Clemson had four players under par for the tournament, the first time all year Clemson has done that. It was a consistent event for the Tigers who were at least five under-par for all three rounds, the only team in the tournament to do that.

Glover and Engler, both juniors, had scores of 210 for the tournament. Engler was Clemson’s top golfer on Sunday with a 68, while Glover had a 70, his third straight round at par or better. Both players finished fifth in the individual race. It was the fifth top 10 finish of the year for Glover and the fourth for Engler.

Jonathan Byrd was the only Tiger to shoot under par in all three rounds, scoring rounds of 70-71-71. His 212 score was good enough for 12th individually.

D.J. Trahan, who had won the Las Vegas Invitational in his last outing, had a solid 215 score and finished 18th. He shot a 73 on Sunday and is now 11-under-par for the year. He is on pace to break John Engler Clemson freshman scoring average record.

Jani Saari shot a 76 on Sunday and finished with a 226 score for the event. The native of Greenville had 72 in the second round for his best 18 of the tournament.

Clemson will next be in action April 7-9 at the United States Collegiate in San Lucas, Mexico. The final two days of that event will be televised by ESPN-2.

Trahan Wins Las Vegas Intercollegiate Freshman D.J. Trahan (Inman, SC, Dorman HS) fired a final round 66, then won a three-hole playoff against Matt Brost of Texas to win medalist honors at the prestigious Las Vegas Intercollegiate March 10-12. The event was held at the Desert Inn Country Club in Las Vegas, the same course that plays host to a PGA event.

Clemson finished sixth as a team, but the Tigers were just two shots from the winning score. It was one of the closest team races in Clemson golf history. Arizona State won the event in a playoff with Oklahoma State and Minnesota. All three teams shot 848 for the event. Texas and Georgia Tech tied for fourth at 849, just a shot back. Clemson was sixth at 850. Defending NCAA Champion Georgia was seventh at 860. Houston and host school UNLV were eight at 868, while New Mexico and North Carolina were 10th at 869. Florida was 12th at 874, Virginia 13th at 876 and South Carolina last at 883.

Trahan won the tournament against a field that included 10 of the top 20 teams in the nation and 10 of the top 25 individuals in the nation. The field included former US Amateur Champion Matt Kuchar, reigning US Amateur Champion David Gossett of Texas, 1998 NCAA Champion James McLean of Minnesota and Bryce Molder of Georgia Tech, the current number-one ranked player in the nation.

Trahan won the event with a 207 score for the 54 holes. He tied the Clemson record for lowest tournament score by a freshman and for best score versus par by a freshman. His nine-under par tied the freshman record also held by Chris Patton, who shot a -9 at the Gamecock Invitational in 1997.

Trahan, a native of Inman, SC and Dorman High School, is now 10-under par for the season and has been under par in four of his five tournaments. He finished eighth at the San Juan Shootout in the first event of the Spring. He had rounds of 73-68-66 for this past weekend. The 66 was a season best lowest competitive round by a Clemson freshman since Charles Warren shot a 66 at the Wofford Invitational in 1995. He was just the third freshman in Clemson history to shoot a 66 or better. The 66 was the low round of the entire tournament by any individual.

Clemson shot a 277 score as a team on Sunday, its second best team round of the year and the best score of the day by four strokes. The Tigers trailed by 16 strokes entering the final day and came within two shots of the title.

Helping Trahan was junior Lucas Glover, who fired a 67 on the final day. Jonathan Byrd shot a 70, giving Ben Duncan shot a 76 to round out Clemson’s five players.

Byrd finished with a 211 score for the event, a seventh place finish, the 23rd top 10 finish of his Clemson career. Glover and Engler finished 35th with 219 scores, while Ben Duncan finished 67th with a 228 score. Glover, a native of Greenville, struggled in the first two rounds with scores of 77-75 before he caught fire on Sunday.

Trahan Top Tiger in Puerto Rico Freshman D.J. Trahan fired a two-under-par 70 in the final round to lead Clemson to a fourth-place finish at the San Juan Shootout at the Rio Mar Country Club in San Juan, Puerto Rico February 27-29. Georgia Tech won the event with an 853 team score, 11-under-par, while Clemson was fourth, eight strokes back.

Northwestern was second with an 857 score, while NC State was third at 859. After Clemson’s fourth place score of 861, Georgia, the defending NCAA champion was fifth at 866.

Trahan had rounds of 68-76-70 in finishing in eighth place with a 214 score. He was seven shots behind individual champion Luke Donald of Northwestern, who had a three-stroke victory with a 207 total.

It was the second top 10 finish of the year for Trahan, who finished sixth with a 214 score at the Golfweek Preview back in September. Among the players Trahan was tied with was Georgia Tech All-American Bryce Molder. Molder was the individual leader after 36 holes, but shot a 77 on the final round.

John Engler and Lucas Glover, a pair of junior All-Americans for Larry Penley’s team, had a 216 score for he event, even par. Both shot 72 on the final round and finished in a tie for 15th place.

Clemson All-American Jonathan Byrd struggled on Tuesday, shooting a 78. It was his first round of the year over 74 when playing for the Tigers and his worst round in 17 regular season tournaments dating back to 1998. Still, he shot a 218 for the tournament, just two over par and he finished tied for 18th.

Junior Jani Saari fired a 224 score for the 54-hole event, including a 76 on Tuesday. Despite a 50th place finish, Saari’s score counted two of the three days.

Four Tigers under 72 average for the year Clemson’s top four golfers all have stroke averages under 72.0 for the academic year. Lucas Glover leads the way with a 70.59 for the year, including a 70.20 for the fall season. Jonathan Byrd, who is -16 for his last three events, has jumped to second on the list with a 71.44 strokeaverage. John Engler is third at 71.47 and freshman D.J. Trahan is fourth at 71.90. All four players are ranked in the top 25 in the nation individually.

Byrd Ranked 2nd in World Amateur Rankings Two Clemson golfers are ranked among the top 20 amateurs in the world based on ratings released in Golfweek through events of March 6, 2000. Jonathan Byrd is ranked second with 200 points, while Lucas Glover is 18th with 95. Glover just completed a terrific fall season and has jumped ahead of Matt Kuchar in the rankings. Byrd trails only Hunder Huss of Norman, OK and the University of Oklahoma. Edward Loar is ranked third, while David Edger, Charles Howell and Aron Baddeley (Australia) are all tied for fourth.

Glover Had Sensational Fall of 1999 Lucas Glover had the greatest fall season in Clemson history when he had a 70.20 scoring average for 15 rounds in five tournaments this past fall. Glover was 24-under-par for the five tournaments, the best combined score vs. par in a fall season in the sports history. Glover had 10 under par rounds and two more at par.

The native of Greenville who is a two-time defending South Carolina Amateur Champion, had four straight top six finishes to end the fall, including a second-place at the Golf World at Palmetto Dunes. He was an incredible 11-under-par for the 54 holes, and the 205 score tied a Clemson record for lowest 54-hole score in a team event. He was under par for his last seven rounds and shot par of better in each of his last 12 rounds of the fall.

The fantastic fall elevated Glover to a number-six national ranking in the Sagarin individual rankings entering the spring season. He is also now 18th on the world wide US Amateur list according to Golfweek.

Current Tigers Rank one-two-three Current Clemson golfers Lucas Glover, John Engler and Jonathan Byrd rank 1-2-3 in Clemson history in career stroke average. The latest figures that include this academic year show Glover ranked first with a 72.17 average. He posted a 71.39 figure for the fall of 1999 in has a 70.59 stroke average for this academic year over 27 rounds this year

Engler, perhaps the most consistent player in Clemson history, is a 72.21, just .04 behind Glover. Engler has played 104 rounds in his Clemson career. Byrd, the only senior on the team, has a 72.51 average for his 48 tournaments and 145 rounds. He is in the top five in Clemson history in nearly every statistical area.

Clemson Career Stroke Average Leaders (Minimum 45 rounds Played)

Glover and Engler Close Statistically Lucas Glover and John Engler could not be closer in terms of their statistics this year and over their careers. For their careers they rank one-two on the Clemson stroke average list and their career stroke averages are just .04 apart (72.17 to 72.21). For the first 11 rounds of the spring they had the exact same stroke total. Engler and Glover really play different styles, but the results are just about the same. Engler is more conservative left-hander who is deliberate in his play. Glover is an aggressive right handed player who is one of the quickest players in college. He takes an average of just seven seconds over his shots.

Here is a comparison of career stats that show how close the juniors have been:

Tigers in Final 1999 Individual Rankings Three of Clemson players ranked in the top 20 of the Mastercard and Sagarin individual rankings for the 1998-99 academic year. All three return for this year. Jonathan Byrd was a consensus top 10 player according to Mastercard, Sagarin and Golfstat. John Engler made the top 10 in Mastercard and Sagarin and was 14th in Golfstat. Jani Saari, who finished 77th in Sagarin, was also a top 100 player.

Clemson in Final 1998-99 College Golf Rankings

Byrd Academic All-American in 1998-99 Clemson golfer Jonathan Byrd chosen to the 1999 Academic All-America team according to the Golf Coaches Association of America and the College Sports Information Directors of America. Byrd was named first-team All-American for his performance on the course in June. Byrd was the only golfer in the nation in 1999 to earn first-team Academic honors and first-team All-America honors on the course.

The native of Columbia is the first Clemson golfer to earn All-America honors on the course and in the classroom in the same year since 1990 when Oswald Drawdy was named to both teams. Byrd is just the second golfer in school history to make both teams in the same year, but the first to be a first-team selection in both.

The junior has a 3.7 grade point average in marketing. He was one of nine Clemson golfers to earn selection to the Clemson academic honor roll for the spring semester of 1999. Larry Penley’s team had a 3.2 team GPA for the spring, highest semester average on record.

Byrd is the seventh athlete in Clemson history, regardless of sport, to be chosen All-American on the field and in the classroom in the same year, the first to do it in nearly a decade.