Tigers Head to ACC Tournament

Clemson, S.C.—Clemson begins postseason play on Friday, April 24 at the ACC Men’s Golf Championship at The Old North State Club in New London, N.C.  The 54 hole three-day event will continue Saturday and Sunday at the par 72 course north of Charlotte, N.C. This marks the 14^th consecutive year and  the 19^th time overall that the ACC Tournament has been held at The Old North State Club.

The Tournament will feature 12 schools, including four ranked in the top 25 and 10 ranked in the top 50 according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.  Florida State is ranked No. 1 in the nation, while defending ACC Champion Georgia Tech is No. 10. Six of the top 25 individuals will be on display as well. 

Clemson enters the tournament coming off a second-place finish at the Yale Spring Invitational in New Haven, Conn.  The Tigers finished second to ACC foe Wake Forest, but beat ACC teams Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Boston College in the process.

Head Coach Larry Penley will be seeking his ninth ACC title and 66^th tournament victory overall as leader of the Clemson program.   Clemson has won nine ACC Tournaments overall, as Bobby Robinson coached Clemson to the 1982 ACC Championship when Penley was an assistant coach.

Penley will take a veteran team to the ACC Tournament.  All five of his players have participated in the ACC Tournament previously, including four of the five players in two tournaments.  Four of the five have had a top 15 finish and all five have had at least one round in the 60s.

Billy Kennerly has not played in the ACC Tournament since 2013, but he finished 10^th at that event thanks to a pair of three-under-par 69s in rounds two and three.  This year the senior from Alpharetta, Ga has a team best 71.19 stroke average, a figure that is on pace to be the best by a Clemson golfer since the 2006-07 season when Kyle Stanley averaged 70.87.  Kennerly leads the team in top 10 finishes with five.

Cody Proveaux is another Tiger with a scoring average under 72.0 as the junior has  71.47 figure.  Ranked a team best No. 82 in the latest national rankings by Golfweek, Proveaux has eight rounds in the 60s, including a Clemson record tying 63 in the second round of the Palmetto Invitational in March.   Proveaux tied for ninth at last year’s ACC Tournament with a 213 score.

Miller Capps has the third best stroke average on the team with a 71.58 figure.  The resident of North Carolina who spent his early years in Seneca, S.C. has 15 under-par rounds to tie Kennerly for the team lead, and has three top 10 finishes.  Capps has finished 21^st each of the last two years at the ACC Tournament with identical even par 54-hole scores of 216.

Stephen Behr enters the ACC Tournament with a 72.04 stroke average this year in 10 tournaments.  The junior finished 14^th at the ACC Tournament last year with a 214 total, including three-under par 69s in the second and third round. 

Austin Langdale rounds out the Clemson lineup.  He tied for Clemson honors at the ACC Tournament last year with a 213 total, good enough for ninth place individually.  Langdale has played in just three events this year due to injury, but is coming off a season best 16^th place fininsh at the Yale Spring Invitational.

Fans can follow the scoring on the ACC Tournament starting Friday at golfstat.com.  ESPN3 will provide coverage on the tournament over the internet on Saturday (3-5 pm) and Sunday (1-3:30 pm.)