Tigers Three Shots out of First

April 16, 1999

NEW LONDON, NC – Sophomore John Engler fired a two-under-par 70 to lead the Clemson golf team to a 290 team score and fourth-place team ranking after the first round of the ACC Tournament. The event is being played at the Old North State Club in New London, NC.

Clemson, ranked number-three in the nation, is fourth after the first round, but is just three shots out of first place. North Carolina and Georgia Tech both had rounds of 287, while NC State is third at 288. Duke is fifth at 298, while Wake Forest and Virginia are tied for sixth at 300. Maryland stands eighth at 306 and Florida State is ninth at 307. The event will have 18 holes on Saturday and 18 on Sunday.

Clemson is the two-time defending team champion and a Tiger has won the event the last two years. Charles Warren of Clemson, now on the PGA Tour and playing in the MCI Classic this week, is the two-time defending champion.

As a team on Friday, Clemson was seven-under par on the par 5s, but 10-over on the par fours. Clemson had 13 birdies and 59 pars in the 90 holes that were played by the five Clemson players on Friday.Clemson will tee-off between 9:30 and 10:10 AM on Saturday at the par 72 course.

Engler is tied for second after the first round after a 70. He had nine hole scores of 37 and 33. The sophomore has been Clemson’s best player of late, coming off a third-place finish at the BELLSOUTH in Cary, NC last weekend. The native of Augusta, GA played well at the ACC Tournament on the same course last year when he finished fifth with a 209 score. He had rounds of 69-70-70 last year, so Friday’s round was his fourth straight under-par round at the Old North State Club.

Hoey’s even-par round was his best in the last five rounds, dating to a 69 at the Carpet Classic in Dalton, GA on April 2. He had nine-hole scores of 36-36 and is eighth place after the first round.

Jonathan Byrd, Clemson’s number-one player, had nines of 38-36 and his 74 after one round is tied for 15th. Byrd, who has 10 consecutive top 20 finishes this year, finished eighth at the ACC Tournament as a sophomore and was seventh as a freshman. He is attempting to become the first Clemson golfer in history to play on three consecutive ACC championship teams.

Lucas Glover of Greenville, SC also had a 74 on Friday and is tied for 15th, while senior Elliot Gealy had a 75 and is tied for 22nd. Gealy started out strong with a 35 on the front side, Clemson’s lowest score on the outward nine, but he shot a 40 on the backside.