Andrew Swanson

Overview:  Had strong finish to his junior year with an 18th place finish at the NCAA National tournament…. winner of he NCAA Elite 90 Award at the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the award given to the golfer with the highest GPA at the NCAA National tournament….joins Stephen Behr (2016) as Clemson players to win the award…Swanson has a a 4.0 GPA through three years at Clemson….has been named to the Coaches Association Academic Scholar team as a sophomore and a junior…academic All-ACC each of the last two years…the 2024-25 season will be his fourth year with the program, his third as a starter…. led the squad in stroke average with a 71.39 figure as a sophomore, he was second in 2023-24 with a 72.50 average… veteran of 26 tournaments and 77 rounds…Swanson has five career top 10s, including a victory at the 2022 Ka’anapali Classic…only active Tiger with a victory…has 17 career rounds in the 60s, 27 under-par rounds and 37 total rounds at par or better…has 265 career birdies and seven eagles…named to the Ping All-District team as a sophomore…also named Academic All-ACC and  one of two Tigers named an Academic Scholar by the Golf Coaches Association in 2022-23….career best is 63 in final round of the Ka’anapali Classic that year..his 18-under-par 195 at Ka’anapali is 54-hole scoring record for a Clemson golfer…has seven career eagles, including a hole-in-one….only active Clemson player who has made an ace in competition, he made hole-in-one at Folds of Honor in Michigan on September 27, 2022 on the seventh hole, a 178-yard par three, with a seven iron…it was the eighth ace in Clemson history…ranked as the number-one player in South Carolina by AJGA coming out of May River High School in Bluffton…came to Clemson from the same area as former All-American Bryson Nimmer…ranked #81 junior by AJGA, #29 in the class of 2021….had extensive experience in junior golf, between high school and junior golf he played in 21 events from July 2020 to June 2021…had 10 top five finishes and 13 top 10s in those 21 events during that time period…must be among the few golfers in the world to make a pair of hole-in-one shots on the same par four hole…accomplished the feat at Belfair Plantation East Course fifth hole (267 yards), first in October of 2019 and second in June 2021….won Ecuador Open in summer of 2021 with 220 score…majoring in mathematical sciences at Clemson.

Career Bests
Round: 63, Ka’anapali Classic, 10/30/22
Round vs. Par:  -9 (63), Ka’anapali Classic, 10/30/22
Tournament:  195,  Ka’anapali Classic, 10/28-30/22
Tournament vs. Par: -18 (195), Ka’anapali Classic, 10/28-30/22
Birdies/Eagles:  20 (19-1), Ka’anapali Classic, 10/28-30/22

In 2023-24: Finished the year on the strongest of notes with an 18th place finish at NCAA National Tournament…had rounds of 75-75-70-70 for a 290 total…his 140 total for the last 36 holes was best in the tournament…had to win a playoff after 54 holes to get into the final round…his 18th place finish was the best by a Clemson golfer in the national event since Turk Pettit won the event in 2021…Swanson was just the eighth Clemson golfer in history to record a top 20 individual finish at the national tournament…Swanson and Pettit are only Clemson golfers to shoot 70 or better in final two rounds of the national tournament since Lucas Glover did it in 2000…highlight of his final round at the national included an eagle thanks to a 50-foot made putt on the second hole…Had a 72.50 stroke average for his 13 tournaments and 38 rounds…had two top 10s, six rounds in the 60s, 11 under-par rounds and 15 rounds at par or better…had a 72.46 average in opening rounds and a 72.08 average in final rounds…had 3.20 stroke average on par three holes, 4.11 on par fours and 4.71 on par fives…had 119 total birdies, second on the team…had six tournaments with at least 10 birdies, including season high 16 at the Ka’anapali Classic…had the top score of the round eight times  and four tournaments he was Clemson’s best player…opened the year with a top 25 at Visit Tennessee, he shot a 69 in the first round of the year…shot 211 at Ka’anapali, including second round 68…had his top round of the year in the first round of the spring with a 66 at Briar’s Creek…had five consecutive birdies during that round, the longest streak of the year by a Clemson golfer…his second-place finish at Briar’s Creek led the Tigers and it was his top finish of the year…finished 62nd at Watersound, then came back with another top 10, a sixth place at Wake Forest Invitational at Pinehurst #2….his performance included a final round 67 on the course that will serve as host of the 2024 US Open…finished 30th at ACC Tournament and 34th at NCAA Chapel Hill Regional where he had consistent rounds of 71-71-70…shot 72 or better in six of his seven most recent rounds entering the NCAA National Tournament…his score counted in 34 of 38 rounds this year and 63 of 74 in his career.

In 2022-23:   Clemson’s top golfer in 2022-23…Clemson’s best golfer in five of the last seven events…had  team best 71.39 stroke average in starting all 11 tournaments…improved as the season went on, he was 23-over-par for the first three tournaments and 28-under-par  for his last eight….shot five-under-par for the season, only Clemson player to shoot under-par for the year…had four of the six individual rounds at 65 or under…had all four rounds posted at six-under or better…only Clemson golfer to play in all 11 team events in 2022-23…set Clemson record for strokes under par in a 54-hole event in winning the Ka’anapali Classic in Hawaii in late October to finish the fall slate…led the team in rounds in the 60s with nine, he had 14 under-par rounds and 18 at par-or-better among is 33 rounds…shot 75 or better in 27 of his 33  …his score counted in 27 of 33 team rounds…had 70.82 stroke average in opening rounds, second best on the team behind Kian Rose…had 72.36 average in final rounds…had 3.10 stroke average on par three holes, best on the team, had 4.04 average on par 4s, best on the team…had 4.88 average on par five holes…led the team in birdies with 129…had best score on the team in 18 rounds, twice as many as any other Tiger…was Clemson’s best player in five of the 11 events…had double figures in birdies in eight of his 11 tournaments with a high of 19 birdies and an eagle at Ka’anapali…did not get off to a good start, he finished 75th at Maui Jim and 55th at Folds of Honor…but came on strong to finish in at least top 28 in each of his last nine events…was solid 11th at The Blessings and 15th at Golf Club of Georgia before winning at Kaanapali Classic on October 30…had rounds of 64-68-63 to finish first with 195 score, a Clemson record 18-under-par…twice shot -5 on nines during the year, including front nine at Ka’anapali when he shot 31…his 64 in first round at Ka’anapli was his only bogey free round of the year and one of just two by Clemson golfers…had a pair of 28th place finishes to start the spring, then got back on track with 14th place finish at Linger Longer and third at Seahawk Intercollegiate…finished 14th at ACC Tournament and 23rd at NCAA Salem Regional…started 67-65 at NCAA Regional…shot under-par in each of the last three tournaments.

Summer of 2022: Had perhaps the best summer among 2022-23 Clemson golfers…started the summer June 15-19  by finishing second at the South Carolina Match Play…beat Henry Augustein (2-up), Clemson teammate Drayton Stewart 1-up), and Trey Crenshaw (20 holes) before losing to Nick Mayfield in the championship match (4&2)…in July, finished 17th at the Palmetto Amateur with consistent scores of 68-72-70-73 for 283 total…finished tied for second at US Open Local qualifier at Debordieu Golf Club in Bluffton…tied with former Clemson All-American Bryson Nimmer with his score of 71….then shot 143 (70-73) to finish 14th out of 70 golfers at the Sectional qualifier in Jupiter, Florida…shot 134 at US Amateur qualifier thanks to rounds of 63-71…tied for 5th and missed getting spot in a playoff…finished 19th at the Southeast Amateur with a 207 total after rounds of 66-70-71.

In 2021-22: Played in just two tournaments as a true freshman, but had 71.50 stroke average for the six rounds….had two rounds in the 60s and four of his six rounds were at par or better…finished eighth in his first career tournament, he shot six-under-par 207 at the J.T. Poston Individual ‘tournament…had rounds of 67-71-69…in the Clemson lineup for the Golf Club of Georgia at the end of the fall and shot 222, six-over-par, to finish 62nd…had 12 birdies at the Poston and 11 at the Golf Club of Georgia…had 70.5 stroke average in his first round of tournaments…his score counted in two of the three rounds at Golf Club of Georgia..had 4.08 stroke average on par four holes and 4.91 on par fives…his GIR was 62.35 percent…hit fairway 58.4 percent…good scrambler at 58.33 percent, second on the team.

In High School: Finished tied for second at the Jones Cup Junior Tournament in December of 2020…had rounds of 74-72-69 for 215 total…finished 18^th at the 4A State Championship tournament, fifth in the Lower State and fourth at the Region 7 4A…finished ninth at the SCJGA Players in November of 2020… his list of results included wins at the TPC Sawgrass and the Sea Palms Junior Championship, and second-place finishes at the Creed Invitational (69-71), the South Carolina Upstate and the Georgia Invitational (71-69)….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 of 2020 also included a tie for ninth at the Future Masters and a semifinal finish at the 2020 South Carolina Junior Match Play…. also ran cross country in high school before concentrating on golf.

Personal: Outstanding student with career 4.0 GPA and graduated fifth in his high school class…lived in Ecuador  ages 10-12 and learned to speak fluent Spanish…there were only eight golf courses in Ecuador when he was growing up….returned to Ecuador in summer of 2021 to see friends and won an amateur tournament while he was there…parents are David an Kim Swanson…born Jan. 22, 2003….majoring in mathematical sciences.

Andrew Swanson All-Time Hole-in-Hole Shots
(Belfair East = Par 4)

Personality Profile

Favorite  Current Professional Golfer:  Jordan Spieth

Favorite Professional Golfer of All-time: Phil Mickelson

Favorite Athlete Outside of Golf: Roger Federer

Favorite Course I have Played: Sage Valley

Course I Would Like to Play: Augusta National

Favorite Golf Hole: Par 4 5th hole at Belfair East (made two hole-in-one shots on the hole).

Toughest Course I Have Played: Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest, Illinois

My Best Shot Ever: Hole in one on a par 4 on hole 5 at Belfair East (twice)

My Best All-time Round (what was the course): 61 Chechessee Creek Club in Oakatie, SC

The Best Part Of My Game is: Putting

My Favorite Club: Driver

The Part of the Game I Must Improve Is: Fairway bunker shots

The Biggest Influence on My Golf Career Has Been: My father

My Dream Foursome Includes Myself And: Charles Barkley, Steph Curry, Aaron Rodgers