CLEMSON, S.C. — Sophomore Rich Wills made three birdie putts over his last four holes, including a 30-footer on the 18th hole, to lead Clemson to a sixth-place finish in stroke play competition at the ACC Men’s Golf Championships at Shark’s Tooth Golf Club in Panama City, FL on Saturday. The sixth-place finish for the 54 holes of stroke place qualified Clemson for the eight-team match play competition that will determine the ACC Champion.
Clemson will face third seed and ninth-ranked North Carolina in the quarterfinals on Sunday morning. The semifinals of match play will be held Sunday afternoon and the championship on Monday. This marks the second straight year Clemson has advanced to the match play championship of the ACC Tournament. Last year Clemson reached the semifinals after defeating SMU before losing to eventual champion Virginia.
The Tigers were in the middle of a very competitive final round as eight teams were in the hunt for the last six teams to qualify for match play. But the Tigers played the last four holes at four-under-par as a team. Wills was the leader, playing the final four holes at three-under-par thanks to birdies on the 15th, 16th and 18th holes.
The Cramerton, NC native made a seven-footer on the 15th, then had a tap birdie in on the 16th. After a par on 17, Wills rolled in a 30-footer on the 18th hole to finish with an even-par 72 and a 214 total for the tournament. His two-under par 214 allowed him to finish 15th in the field of 75 golfers, his best finish in a tournament since a 10th place at the Marquette Invitational in the fall.
It was the first time all year Wills finished as Clemson’s top golfer at a tournament.
Wills’s 30-foot birdie gave the Tigers a two-shot lead over the eighth team at the time. It was his 12th birdie of the tournament. When Oscar Bredkjaer followed with a par on the final hole Clemson had basically clinched its spot in match play.
Stanford won the the stroke play competition by 16 strokes thanks to a team score of 20-under-par 844. Second-ranked Virginia finished second at four-under-par 860. North Carolina and Georgia Tech tied for third at two-under-par 862, while Florida State was fifth at 863. Clemson was sixth at 865. Louisville finished seventh at 866, Wake Forest and Duke finished tied for eighth at 867.
Clemson’s top golfer on Saturday was senior Thomas Higgins, who had a two-under-par score of 70. He finished 30th for the 54 holes with a 219 score. His tournament included 12 birdies, tied for the most among Tigers with Wills.
Bredkjaer was Clemson’s second best player for the tournament with a score of one-under-par 215, good enough for 17th place in the individual racer. He had a 2.92 stroke average on the par three holes, tied for second best in the field. He had rounds of 71-71 for the first two rounds.
Colin Salema, playing in the 50th round of his Clemson career, had a 73 on Saturday, but was two under-par for his last four holes, a key to Clemson’s strong finish. The sophomore finished with a 222 score for the tournament, 41st place.
Lucas Augustsson had final round 74 and finished at five-over-par 221, good enough for 36th place.
Live scoring of the match play competition will be available HERE.