Monday 06/21/1999
April 13, 1998
Clemson will travel to the ACC Tournament this weekend at the Old North State Club at Uwharrie Point in New London, NC. Clemson is the defending champion of the event, but it will be held at a different site.
Clemson won last year’s event by 10 shots at Whitewater Creek Country Club in Fayetteville, GA. Charles Warren led the Tigers by capturing medalist honors with a 212 score, including a second round 67. He defeated Georgia Tech’s Matt Kuchar, who was second at 216. Joey Maxon was tied for fifth at 218 and Jonathan Byrd was eighth at 219.
Clemson won its fifth ACC Tournament title last year, its first since 1990. The Tigers also won in 1987, 1988 and 1982. Clemson has had the individual champion four times. The first was Parker Mooree in 1976. Kevin Johnson, 1988, Danny Ellis, 1992 and Charles Warren last season are the other champions.
Rankings: Clemson is ranked second in the latest Rolex Collegiate Golf Poll released on April 8. The top 20 teams in the nation according to the ranking are:
1. UNLV, 2. Clemson, 3. Georgia Tech, 4. Arizona 5. Houston, 6. Oklahoma State, 7. TCU, 8. Georgia, 9. Florida, 10. Arkansas, 11. South Carolina, 12. Augusta State 13. North Carolina 14. Arizona State, 15. East Tennessee State, 16. Florida State 17. Colorado State 18. Auburn 19. NC State 20. Virginia.
Individual Rankings
Golfstat Cup (April 6, 1998) Jonathan Byrd, 12th , 72.64 adjusted stroke average Charles Warren, 24th, 72.86 adjusted stroke average Lucas Glover, 42nd, 73.18 adjusted stroke average
Mastercard Individual Rankings (April 8, 1998) Jonathan Byrd 16th, 166.032 Lucas Glover, 30th, 107.332 Charles Warren, 34th, 99.943 Joey Maxon, 36th, 96.354 John Engler, 47th, 84.050
Clemson in Golfstat National Statistics (As of April 1, 1998) Overall Individual Rankings *John Engler, 1st, Greens in regulation, .851 *John Engler, 1st Par 3 GIR, .814 *John Engler, 3rd, Fairways hit, .902 *Joey Maxon, 4th, Fewest 3-putt holes, .0.43 *Joey Maxon, 7th, Birdie Conversions, .307 *Charles Warren, 8th, Green in regulations, .702 *Jonathan Byrd, 3rd, Birdie Conversions, .318 *Jonathan Byrd, 2nd, Putting for par, -0.51 *Jonathan Byrd, 10th, short game, .667 *Lucas Glover, 7th 1st round scoring, 71.20 *Lucas Glover, 8th, Putting for par *Lucas Glover, 6th, Putts on GIR, 1.793
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.
1998 Tigers Chasing All the Records: The 1998 Clemson golf team is in the hunt for many school records. The most noteworthy is team stroke average. The Tigers have a 72.12 team stroke average (counting top four scores each round). That stroke average is ahead of the record pace set by the 1988-89 Tigers, a team that had a 72.61 average for the season. That club featured All-Americans Chris Patton and Kevin Johnson.
Only three teams in Clemson history have had lower than a 73.0 stroke average for an entire season. The others were 1992-93 (72.87), and 1991-92 (72.92). This year’s Clemson team has a record five players with averages of 73.24 or better.
This Clemson team is also in range of setting marks for most first or second-place finishes, most individual rounds under par, most individual top 10 finishes, most rounds in the 60s and most individual rounds at par or better.
The chart below shows that this Clemson team needs just five more rounds in the 60s to set the school record for a single season. The team is also on pace to set records for top 10 finishes and rounds under par.
Records in Range Category Records, Year 1998 Stroke Average 72.61 (1989) 72.12 1st or 2nd place finishes 8 (1987) 6 Individual under par rounds 58 (1989) 46 Rounds par or better 78 (1989) 62 Individual Top 10 Finishes 22 many 18 Rounds in the 60s 27 (1989) 24
Warren Climbing up Career Charts: Charles Warren’s number-three finish at the BELLSOUTH Intercollegiate was his 20th top 10 finish as a Tiger, which him moved into third in Clemson history in that category. He now trails only Kevin Johnson (27) and Chris Patton (21) in terms of top 10 finishes.
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 fourth in rounds of par or better (50) and fourth in rounds under par (38). He moved ahead of Coughlan (34) in the Cuscowilla Invitational. His 73.29 career stroke average is is sixth best in Clemson history, trailing only Chris Patton (72.71), Kevin Johnson (72.86), teammate Jonathan Byrd (73.26), and former teammate Richard Coughlan (73.28).
Glover Joins Exclusive Company: Freshman Lucas Glover joined an exclusive group of Clemson freshmen when he earned co-medalist honors at the Carpet Classic at the Farm April 3-5. Glover shot a 212 for the three rounds, a season best four-under-par. He fired consistent rounds of 69-71-72 in becoming just the second freshman in 11 years to win a tournament for the Tigers.
Glover became just the fifth freshman in Clemson history to win a tournament. Jimmy White won two events, the South Carolina Intercollegiate and the College of Charleston Invitational in 1974-75 as a freshman. Tony Nimmer won the South Carolina Intercollegiate in his freshman year, 1979-80. Chris Patton won co-medalist honors at the Gamecock Invitational in 1986-87, his freshman season. Teammate Jonathan Byrd won the Puerto Rico Classic last year as a freshman.
Glover is ahead of Patton’s Clemson’s freshman record of 73.55. Clemson’s native of Greenville has a 72.90 average at the moment, so he is a full stroke better than Patton’s mark. That 72.90 stroke average would be 11th best in Clemson history.
Maxon Showing Consistency: Senior Joey Maxon has been Clemson’s most consistent golfer of the spring. The native of Dover, DE has five top 16 finishes in his last six tournament, including four top 10 finishes. He is coming off a fifth-place finish at the BELLSOUTH and a sixth place finish at the Carpet Classic. He had a season low 215 for the three days at the Carpet Classic, his first under par tournament since the Carpet Classic in 1996.
Maxon has had rounds of 75 or better in 18 of his last 19 trips around the course. He has been at 73 or under in 11 of his last 16 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 73.08 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 74.18 average for 116 rounds and 41 tournaments. The BELLSOUTH was his 12th career top 10 finish, his second in succession. Twice this year he has had back to back top 10 tournaments. Maxon now has three under-par tournaments in his career, two have been at the Carpet Classic.
Byrd Has Six Top 10 Finishes: Jonathan Byrd, the native of Columbia, had his sixth Top 10 finish this season, best on the team, when he finished fourth at the Carpet Classic. It was his third straight top 10, and his second straight fourth-place finish. Four has been the number for Byrd this year as he has finished in fourth place, in four different tournaments.
At the Carpet Classic, Byrd had his second straight model of consistency showing. He had rounds of 73-71-70 after ronds of 70-69-71 at the Cuscowilla Invitational. Prior to that he was two-under par at the Golf Digest. For the entire academic year Byrd is just 23 over par, including +14 last week when he slumped to a season worst 230 at the BELLSOUTH.
Byrd is now second to Charles Warren in season stroke average. Both are natives of Columbia. Byrd has eight rounds in the 60s best on the Clemson team and already tied for second in Clemson history for a single season. He has a 72.47 average for the season and now stands at 73.26 for his career, third best in Clemson history.
Byrd is trying to become just the third player in Clemson history to average under 72.0 for a season. The only two to do it previously are Chris Patton and Dillard Pruitt. Patton had a 71.85 in 1988-89 and Pruitt had a 71.94 in 1983-84.
Byrd has a 73.11 stroke average for his career and now has 12 Top 10 finishes in his 22 tournament career. He is among an elite few Clemson players who have finished in the top 10 in 50 percent of their tournaments.
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 4. Jonathan Byrd 1996-98 68 4,982 73.26 5. Richard Coughlan1993-97 144 10,552 73.28 6. Charles Warren 1994-98 134 9,822 73.29 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
Penley Captures 36th Tournament Title: Clemson head coach Larry Penley won his 36th career tournament as head coach of the Tigers when his squad won the Carpet Classic at The Farm April 3-5. It might have been the strongest regular season tournament championship of his career as the field included 11 of the top 20 teams in the nation according to the Mastercard rating.
Penley is in his 15th year as the head coach of the Tigers, so he is averaging over two tournament victories per season. Clemson also won the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate in the fall and has finished second in four other events. For his career he has 36 first-place finishes and 34 second place finishes. That is 70 first or runner up finishes in 177 events.
This spring he hopes to lead Clemson to a 15th straight NCAA national tournament competition. Clemson has 11 top 20 finishes, including nine top 15 finishes in his career.
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