Men’s Golf Wins Ridges Intercollegiate

Sept. 13, 1998

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Jonathan Byrd and Lucas Glover finished first and second, respectively, to lead Clemson to the championship of the Ridges Intercollegiate at The Ridges Golf and Country Club in Johnson City, TN. It was the opening tournament of the season for Larry Penley’s Tigers, who were fourth-ranked in the nation entering the event.

Clemson won the event by five shots over third-ranked Georgia Tech and former US Amateur Champion Matt Kuchar. The tournament featured 10 of the top 20 teams in the nation and 11 of the top 25 players in the country according to the MasterCard poll. The Tiger team shot a team score of 283 in the final round to take the title.

Oklahoma was third at 860, while Florida was fourth at 862. LSU and Texas tied for fifth at 867, while Houston and TCU tied for seventh at 872. Host school East Tennessee State was ninth at 873, while North Carolina rounded out the top 10 with a 887 score.

Clemson’s team score of 844 tied for the third lowest 54-hole team score in school history. The record is 836 set last year at the ACC Tournament.

Byrd shot 54-hole score of 207 on the par 72, 7038-yard course. He had rounds of 67-70-70 in recording the nine-under-par score. It was his career best 54-hole score and his first tournament championship since his freshman year when he won the Puerto Rico Intercollegiate.

Glover had a 208 score, thanks to rounds of 67-72-69. It was his low tournament as a Tiger, better than his 212 score when he won the Carpet Classic last year as a freshman. Sophomore John Engler was the third Tiger under par for the tournament with a 215 score, including an even-par 72 on Sunday. He finished 14th.

Senior Elliott Gealy finished 28th with a 220 score, four-over-par, while Luke Ferguson was 63rd at 230. Ferguson, playing in his first career tournament, had an even-par 72 to be a counter on Sunday.