Clemson, S.C.—Larry Penley’s Clemson men’s golf program signed four future student-athletes to a national letter of intent, on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period. The list of future Tigers includes Kian Rose of Gauteng, South Africa, Sean Curran of New Lenox, Illinois, Austin Scott of Charleston, SC, and Andrew Swanson of Bluffton, SC. Rose will enter Clemson in January, while the others will enroll for the first semester of the 2021-22 academic year.
Rose represented South Africa in the U18 Italian International Championships and he helped South Africa finish first. Individually, Rose ranked first in the Central Gauteng Golf Union for 2019-2020, and was fifth in the U19 South Africa National Order of Merit. He won the U19 Nomads National Order of Merit in June of 2019. In his lone AJGA event in Pinehurst, NC, he won the qualifier by shooting a 69, then finished third in the tournament with a 54-hole score of 217 after consistent rounds of 71-73-73.
Curran is the first golfer to come to Clemson from Illinois since 1980 when Mark Polites of Ofallo, Illinois, enrolled. Curran was a three-time state tournament qualifier in Illinois and finished second as a sophomore and 16th as a junior. This year’s tournament has not yet taken place. Curran was named the Herald News Golfer of the Year on November 2nd. He won the Lockport Invitational this past September when he shot a 66.
Curran’s resume includes reaching the round of 32 at the USGA Junior Amateur, a sixth-place finish at the North-South Junior and the Northern Amateur. He finished ninth at the 2020 AJGA Junior Open in Sevierville, Tenn.
In addition to being a four-year starter on the golf team, Curran is a four-year starter on the hardcourt at Lincoln Way Central High. He has averaged 12.5 points and five assists per game as the starting point guard. He has made the all-conference team each of his first three years. Curran’s sister, Grace, is a former Illinois State Champion and is currently a starter on the University of Minnesota women’s team.
Scott comes to Clemson from Bishop England High School Daniel Island, SC. He had a strong list of accomplishments in junior golf. He won the 2019 South Carolina Junior Championship and finished sixth at the 2020 Carolina Boys Amateur. Additionally, Scott’s 2020 season included a sixth-place at the AJGA Invitational in Rome, Georgia, was eighth at the Beth Daniel Junior Azalea, and finished 14th at the Dustin Johnson Invitational.
Swanson comes to Clemson from May River High School in Bluffton, SC. He is coming off a strong 2020 spring and summer season that included 11 top 10 finishes. His list of results included wins at the TPC Sawgrass and the Sea Palms Junior Championship, and second-place finishes at the Creed Invitational, the South Carolina Upstate, and the Georgia Invitational.
Swanson also had three more finishes in the top five, including a third at the Jimmy Self Invitational, a fourth at Mimosa Hills, and fifth at the Beth Daniel Junior Azalea. His summer also included a tie for ninth at the Future Masters and a semifinal finish at the South Carolina Junior Match Play.
Another highlight of his summer came at the Belfair Plantation East Course where he made a hole-in-one on the par-four fifth hole from 267 yards with a three-wood.
Swanson plans to enroll at Clemson in the university’s STEM program, a collaborative study between Clemson’s College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences with the College of Science. It is a program that raises awareness of graduate education in the STEM fields.
