Men’s Golf Notes

March 26, 1998

Next Tee Time For Clemson

Clemson will travel to the Carpet Capital Classic in Dalton, GA April 3-5. The Tournament will be played at The Farm, a par 72 that is 6906 yards in length.

This will be Clemson’s ninth appearance at the the Carpet Capital Classic. The Tigers have won the event twice, in 1993 and 1996. The event was shortened to 36 holes due to rain when Clemson win in 1993.

Last year Clemson finished sixth in a strong field. Richard Coughlan was Clemson’s top performer with a 218 score, good enough for seventh individually. Joey Maxon was 22nd at 223, Jonathan Byrd was 29th at 225, Charles Warren was 42nd at 229 and Elliot Gealy was 80th at 239.

This year’s field will include eight of the top 15 teams in the nation and 19 of the 30 preseason All-Americans according to Golfweek Magazine. The field, in addition to Clemson’s reigning NCAA Champion Charles Warren, will include Matt Kuchar of Georgia Tech, reigning US Amateur champion, Tim Clark of NC State, reigning US Publinx Champion and Brad Elder of Texas, NCAA runnerup in 1997.

Rankings

Clemson is ranked fourth in the latest Rolex Collegiate Golf Poll released on March 25. The top 20 teams in the nation according to the ranking are: 1. UNLV, 2. Arizona, 3. Georgia Tech, 4. Clemson, 5. Houston, 6. TCU, 7. Arkansas, 8. Oklahoma State, 9. Florida, 10. Georgia, 11. South Carolina, 12. Augusta State, 13. North Carolina, 14. Arizona State, 15. East Tennessee State, 16. Colorado State, 17. Virginia, 18. BYU, 19. Southern Cal, 20. NC State.

Other rankings for ACC schools include: 25. Florida State, 32. Wake Forest.

Individual Rankings

Golfstat Cup  (March 23, 1998)Charles Warren, 14th, 71.37 adjusted stroke averageJonathan Byrd,  33rd, 71.68 adjusted stroke averageJohn Engler, 38th, 71.86 adjusted stroke average

Clemson in Golfstat National Statistics (As of March 23, 1998) Overall Individual Rankings *John Engler, 1st, Greens in regulation, .845 *John Engler, 4th, Fairways hit, .894 *Charles Warren, 8th, Fairways hit, .826 *Charles Warren, 6th, Greens in regulation, .725 *Charles Warren, 10th, par 4 scoring, 4.05 *Jonathan Byrd, 10th, Total Short game, .667 Team Rankings *Fourth in Subpar strokes/round, 3.37 *9th Par 4 Scoring *Third in Par 5 scoring, 4.77

Warren, Tigers Second at Cuscowilla

Defending National Champion Charles Warren led Clemson to a second-place finish at the Cuscowilla Intercollegiate at Eatonton, GA March 23-24. The senior fired a final round 66 and concluded the 54-hole event with a 208 score.

Warren took runnerup honors in the tournament, three strokes behind Ross Bain of North Carolina, who birdied three of the last five holes to finish with a 65 and a 205 overall score. For Warren, the 66 score tied his career best round and it was his best score since shooting a 66 at the Wofford Invitational his freshman year.

Jonathan Byrd had his most consistent tournament of the spring, firing scores of 70-69-71 for a 210 total. The even par tournament allowed the native of Columbia to finish in fourth place. It was the fourth straight tournament in which Byrd had posted at least one round in the 60s.

Lucas Glover, making his first appearance of the spring, had rounds of 70 and 68 to open the tournament and was in second place heading into the final round. He closed with a 77, but his 215 total was still good enough for 15th.

North Carolina won the event with an 841 score, while Clemson’s 847 score was second. The 847 score was tied for third best in Clemson history, however the Cuscowilla Course does play to a par 70 and thus the team had a +7 score.

ACC Teams had the top five spots in the event. After North Carolina and Clemson were Georgia Tech, Duke, and NC State. Wake Forest finished in a tie for seventh.

Team Sets Record for Sub 280 Rounds

Clemson posted a 279 team score in the second round of the Cuscowilla Intercollegiate and set a school season record in the process. It marked the fifth time this year that Clemson had posted a team score under 280 for an individual round, the most in a season in Clemson history.

It broke the record of four sub-280 rounds set by Clemson’s 1986-87 team. That team featured Kevin Johnson and Chris Patton, a pair of first-team All-Americans. Larry Penley’s Tigers had three players in the 60s for the day’s work as Charles Warren and Lucas Glover shot 68s and Jonathan Byrd fired a 69. The Tigers added a 280 team score in the final round.

Clemson’s top round this year took place on September 16, the second round of the season, when the Tigers had a 273 team score for the second round of the Palmetto Classic. The -15 team score included rounds of 67 by Elliot Gealy and Charles Warren and a 67 by Jonathan Byrd. Joey Maxon’s 71 also counted toward the team score that established an all-time school record for team round.

The Tigers also had a 274 at Mauna Kea, a 278 at Golf Digest and a 279 at Golf World. All of those were recorded on par 72 layouts.

Warren Climbing up Career Charts

Senior Charles Warren continues to move up the Clemson career charts in many areas. His outstanding 71.74 scoring average for the season is ahead of Chris Patton’s all-time school record of 71.85 achieved in 1988-89. That figure has improved his career average to 73.28, tied for fifth in Clemson history.

Ironically, Warren’s average is currently tied with former teammate and Clemson All-American Richard Coughlan, who is now on the PGA Tour. Warren has his 73.28 average for 45 tournaments and 128 career rounds. Coughlan played 144 career rounds in 50 tournaments as a Tiger.

Warren’s number-two finish at the Cuscowilla Intercollegiate was his 19th top 10 finish as a Tiger, which tied him for third in Clemson history in that category. One of the players he is tied with is Coughlan, who had 19 top 10 finishes between 1993-97. Nicky Goetze also had 19 top 10 finishes (1989-93).

Warren is also moving up the career lists in terms of rounds in the 60s (18), a figure that is currently third behind Patton (30) and Kevin Johnson (22). Warren is also currently eighth in rounds of par or better (46) and fifth in rounds under par (36). He moved ahead of Coughlan (34) in the Cuscowilla Invitational.

Glover Makes Spring Debut

Clemson’s lineup got a boost from Lucas Glover at the Cuscowilla Intercollegiate. The native of Greenville and Wade Hampton High School had rounds of 70-68-77 in finishing 15th individually. It was his first action of the spring after averaging 73.17 in the fall.

Heading into the Carpet Classic, he has a 72.87 average, ahead of the Clemson freshman record of 73.55 set by Chris Patton in 1986-87. Glover’s best tournament of the fall took place at the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate when he finished fourth overall with a 214 total.

While Glover is ahead of the Clemson freshman scoring record, he does have competition. Classmate John Engler, who has played in six of the eight events this year, has a 73.00 average, also ahead of Patton’s freshman record. Engler’s top event this year was a fourth place finish at the Golf World.

Clemson Finishes Fourth at Golf Digest

Jonathan Byrd led the Tigers to a fourth-place finish at the Golf Digest Collegiate in Las Vegas, March 13-15. Clemson scored a six-over-par 870 on the Desert Inn Course. Byrd had a 54-hole total of 214, two-under-par.

Despite the 10th-place individual finish, Byrd had an up and down event for the Tigers. He had rounds of 65 and 69 to open the Tournament and his 10-under-par score after two rounds was equal to Kevin Johnson’s all-time Clemson record for a 54-hole tournament, 10-under at the 1987 Homberg Invitational.

But, Byrd struggled to an 80 on the final day and finished with the two-under-par score, still an accomplishment considering the field included 15 of the top 25 college teams in the nation. The native of Columbia was just one shot out of the lead with his 134 score after two rounds.

Joey Maxon continued his consistent play and shot a 218, two-over-par, good enough for 16th place while Charles Warren had a 220, four-over-par and finished 24th. Warren opened with a 69, but followed with rounds of 77 and 74. Freshman John Engler was 26th with a 221 total and Elliot Gealy, playing just his second tournament of the year, was 58th with a 228 figure.

Maxon Showing Consistency

Senior Joey Maxon has been Clemson’s most consistent golfer of late. The native of Dover, DE had three consecutive top 16 finishes between the last event of the fall and the first two events of the spring, the only Tiger who could make that claim. Maxon has 12 straight rounds at 75 or better. He has been at 73 or under in seven of his last 10 rounds.

Maxon started the streak with an eighth-place finish in Mauna Kea when he shot a 216 total in the last tournament of the fall. He had a 216 at Puerto Rico, Clemson’s best score of the event, then had a 218 at the Golf Digest, good enough for 16th place. He had rounds of 75-74-73 at the Cuscowilla Intercollegiate.

Maxon has a 73.50 average for this year, improved over his 74.37 average of last year. Maxon was an honorable mention All-American and first-team All-ACC selection as a sophomore. For his career, Maxon has a 74.31 average for 110 rounds. The Puerto Rico Classic was his 10th career top 10 finish.

Byrd Has Five Top 10 Finishes

Sophomore Jonathan Byrd had his fifth Top 10 finish this season, best on the team, when he finished fourth at the Cuscowilla Intercollegiate. It was his second straight top 10, the first time this year he has had back to back top 10 finishes.

Byrd had a 214 total to finish 10th at the Golf Digest, his third under-par tournament of the season. He was also under par at the Palmetto Classic and the Mauna Kea in Hawaii. He finished fourth and sixth in those events, respectively.

Byrd is second only to Charles Warren in terms of stroke average this year with a 72.08. Both are natives of Columbia. Byrd has eight rounds in the 60s this year and has a shot at the Clemson single season record of 15, set by Chris Patton in 1988-89. Byrd’s eight rounds in the 60s are already tied for second in Clemson history.

Byrd has a 73.19 stroke average for his career and now has 11 Top 10 finishes in his 21 tournament career. He is among an elite few Clemson players who have finished in the top 10 in 50 percent of their tournaments. The 73.19 stroke average is tied for third in Clemson history with former All-American Nicky Goetze (1989-93).

    Clemson Career Stroke Average Leaders        (Minimum 50 rounds)    Rk  Name            Yrs     Rds Stks    Avg    1.  Chris Patton    1986-90 139 10,106  72.71    2.  Kevin Johnson   1985-89 147 10,711  72.86    3.  Nicky Goetze    1989-93 159 11,638  73.19        Jonathan Byrd   1996-98 62  4,538   73.19    5.  Richard Coughlan1993-97 144 10,552  73.28        Charles Warren  1994-98 128 9,380   73.28    7.  Dillard Pruitt  1980-84 125 9,180   73.44    8.  Clarence Rose   1978-80 61  4,500   73.77    9.  Danny Ellis     1989-93 138 10,181  73.78