CLEMSON, S.C. — Freshman Rich Wills and senior Kian Rose both had under-par rounds to lead Clemson to a 290 team score and an eighth place standing out of 14 teams after the first round at the 18th annual Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate in Alpharetta, Georgia.
The field includes eight of the top 25 teams in the nation and eight teams who made the NCAA national Tournament a year ago. Clemson is ahead of ninth ranked and host school Georgia Tech, 11th ranked Alabama, 17th ranked Tennessee and 24th ranked Stanford after the first round on the par 72 course that measures 7092 yards.
Wills shot a three-under-par 69, his best round of the young season by two shots. He shot a 33 on the back nine, his first nine of the day, and the low back nine score so far this year by a Clemson golfer. He finished with five birdies and and just two bogeys, and stands in eighth place out of the 75 players in the field. Wills is coming off a 2-0-1 record at the Barbara Nicklaus Cup match play tournament last week.
Rose’s 71 was his second under-par round of the season, as he had four birdies. The native of South Africa stands in a tie for 14th place in the individual race. It was his 27th career under-par round as a Clemson golfer.
Lucas Augustsson and Colin Salema both had rounds of three-over-par 75 on Friday. Augustsson, a transfer from East Carolina, had three birdies, while Salema had a pair of birdies. Senior Andrew Swanson had four birdies, but shot a four-over-par 76 and was Clemson’s non-counter.
Virginia has the team lead with a score of nine-under-par 279 and UCLA is second at 280. Duke is third at 283. Clemson is just six shots out of fourth.
The 14 teams will continue the tournament on Saturday and Sunday. Live scoring is available on spikemark.com.
