CLEMSON, S.C. — Senior Hampton Roberts had a final round 65 and won co-medalist honors to lead Clemson to a second-place finish at the Ka’anapali Classic in Lahaina, Hawaii on Tuesday. The Tigers finished second in the 20-team tournament that included eight of the top 40 teams in the nation.
The event concluded the fall portion of the Clemson schedule. The Tigers, ranked 26th in the nation entering the tournament, beat four teams ranked ahead of them in the Spikemark rankings and look to move into the top 20 entering next spring. The Tigers concluded the fall schedule with a 46-21 record against the field in its five events.
Georgia won the tournament with a score of 23-under-par 829, just one shot better than Clemson’s 830 score and 22-under par. TCU finished third at -16 and Oklahoma was fourth at -6. Kansas, ranked 18th in the nation, was fifth at -4 and an 848 total.
Clemson had the lead after the first round on Sunday with a two-under-par 282 in difficult conditions on the par 71 course. Clemson was the only one of the 20 teams to score under par in the first round. Roberts led the way with a 67 that featured five birdies and just one bogey. He had a 32 on the back nine. Oscar Valdemar Holm Bredkjær and Gabriel Holtz both added rounds of 69. Bredkjaer had a 31 on the back nine, the low back nine of the year by a Clemson golfer.
Georgia took a five-shot lead over Clemon after 36 holes. Clemson shot -14 as a team over the front nine of the third round on Monday afternoon to make a one-shot lead entering the back nine when play was halted in the third round. The teams came back to play the final nine on Tuesday morning Hawaii time.
The Bulldogs played well on Tuesday morning, especially on the par four holes to win the tournament by a shot. For the event, the 12th ranked Bulldogs played the par four holes at 11-under-par, 22 shots better than Clemson. But the Tigers led the tournament in par three scoring (even) and par five scoring (-25).
Roberts had rounds of 67-70-65 to claim co-medalist honors with Grayson Wood of Georgia. Wood shot 66 in the final round and Roberts had a season best 65. For the tournament, Roberts led the field in par three scoring at 2.67 and was third in par five scoring at 4.22. He finished with 17 under-par holes thanks to 16 birdies and an eagle. His 202 54-hole total was his best of the year.
Oscar Bredkjaer also had a top four finish with a 54-hole score of 205, eight-under par. It was his third top four finish of the year and he closed the fall with a bogey free 67 on Tuesday, his 10th under-par round of the year. He finished the fall with a 69.75 stroke average. He finished the tournament with 11 birdies and an eagle.
All five Clemson players shot in the 60s in the final round and the 18-under-par score of 266 tied for the sixth best in Clemson history. The 18-under-par tied for the fourth best score vs. par in school history.
In addition to Roberts 65 and Bredkjaer’s 67, Biagio Gagliardi had a final round 65 and improved by 30 places in the standings to finish 24th for the tournament. He had rounds of 77-71-65 for an even-par 213 total. He had 13 birdies, second on the Clemson team for the event.
Gabriel Holtz had rounds of 69-73-69 for a 211 total to finish in 17th place at -2. Junior Rich Wills had a 69 in the final round to finish at 219 for the event, 59th place.
Daniel McBrien and Jack Roberts played the tournament as individuals. McBrien had a 229 total for the 54 holes, good enough for 106th place. Jack Roberts, playing in his first tournament for the Tigers, played just two rounds, but had a 144 score, just two over par. He had an even-par in his first round, the second round of the tournament.
Clemson will next be in action Feb. 15-16 at the Battle at Briar’s Creek in John’s Island, S.C.