Three Clemson Golfers in Top 50 of Golfweek Rankings

Dec. 22, 2006

Clemson, SC – Clemson freshmen Kyle Stanley, Ben Martin and Sam Saunders are all ranked in the top 50 of the Golfweek Collegiate rankings through the completion of the 2006 fall season. Clemson is one of just three schools in the nation with at least three top 50 players. The other schools are Stanford with four and Florida with three. Clemson is the only school in the nation with three freshmen ranked in the top 50.

Technically, Clemson completed the fall with four top 50 players, but sophomore Vince Hatfield, ranked 30th in the listing, has left school to turn professional.

Stanley is the highest rated Tiger with a #12 national ranking through the fall events. The first-year freshman from Gig Harbor, Washington leads the Clemson team in stroke average with a 71.00 figure. He has scored 75 or better in all 12 of his rounds and has five rounds in the 60s to lead the Clemson team. Stanley finished his fall in grand style by winning the Aloha Classic in Kauai Hawaii in a playoff with a score of 207. That tied a Clemson freshman record for low 54-hole score and he became the first first-year freshman in Clemson history to win a fall event.

Martin is rated 41st in the nation in the Golfweek rankings. The red-shirt freshman from Greenwood, SC is second on the Clemson team in stroke average with a 72.22 figure and he has five rounds under par, second best on the team. Martin finished third at the Carpet Classic in September, his first tournament of the year when he had a 208 score, including a second-round 64 that was that tied for the second best round in Clemson history.

Saunders is ranked 49th in the final fall Golfweek rankings. The first-year freshman from Florida has a 72.67 stroke average through two tournaments. He has been a model of consistency with all six rounds between 71 and 75. He had a top 10 finish in his first career event, a 221 score at Isleworth. He also competed for the Tigers in the Callaway Match Play at Colonial Country Club in Texas in October.