Tigers Take Jerry Pate Invitational

Oct. 15, 2002

The final round of the Jerry Pate Invitational at Old Overton Golf Club in Birmingham, AL was rained out on Tuesday. Clemson, the leader after two rounds, was declared the tournament champion.

It was Clemson’s third championship of the fall in four events and the fifth time in the last six years that Clemson has won the Jerry Pate Invitational.

D.J. Trahan, Matt Hendrix and Jack Ferguson all finished in the top 10 to lead the Tigers to the six-shot victory. Clemson earlier won the Topy Cup and the Carpet Classic, and finished second at the Ping Preview.

Clemson shot consecutive team rounds of 278, six-under-par on the par 71 course that measures 6958 yards on Monday. Clemson’s 36-hole score of 556 is six shots better than Texas. TCU stood third at 563, while UNLV and Wake Forest were just one shot behind at 564. Arizona and Georgia Tech finished at 565 and Alabama, the host school, was eighth at 567. A total of 12 teams were in the field, including 10 top 20 squads.

Trahan had rounds of 66 and 70 on Monday and his 136 total was just one shot off the medallist, Chris Nallen of Arizona, who had rounds of 69 and 66. Trahan was tied with Ryan Moore of UNLV. Clemson’s Matt Hendrix finished just two shots off the pace after rounds of 68-69. He was tied with J.J. Wall of Texas. Jack Ferguson had rounds of 73 and 66 on Monday and finished at three under par, good enough for ninth position.