Tigers Win Jerry Pate Intercollegiate For Third Straight Year

Oct. 19, 1999

Birmingham, Ala. – Lucas Glover fired a final round 70, then made a birdie on the second playoff hole to lead Clemson to the team championship of the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate in Birmingham, AL. It was the third straight year that Clemson won the event, which is played on the par 71 Old Overton Country Club course.

Clemson and UNLV were tied at the end of the 54 holes in the team competition with 835 team scores, 17-under-par. The 835 team score was the third lowest in Clemson history. Last year Clemson shot an 830, the lowest team score in Clemson history.

All five players from both teams participated in the playoff and all 10 players had pars on the first hole. But, Clemson registered two birdies on the second hole, one by Jonathan Byrd and the second by Glover, to trump UNLV’s one birdie.

It was the first tournament triumph of fall for Larry Penley’s Tigers, who had finished second in each of their last two tournaments. Clemson, ranked number-one in both college polls, and UNLV, who defeated Clemson in the 1998 NCAA Tournament, tied in regulation, while defending National Champion Georgia was third at 838. Houston was fourth at 840. Oklahoma State was fifth at 849 and Arizona State was sixth at 850 in the 12-team event.

Clemson won the team title, but did not have anyone in the top five individually. Charles Howell of Oklahoma State and a native of Augusta, GA, finished first with a 201, 12-under-par. Glover was Clemson’s top finisher with a 206 for the tournament, good enough for sixth place. Glover , Clemson’s top player this fall, is now 13-under-par for his 12 rounds of golf this year.

Jonathan Byrd fired his third straight 69 on Tuesday and finished at 207. It was just the second time in Clemson history that a Tiger had three straight rounds in the 60s in a 54-hole team event. Charles Warren, now on the PGA tour, did it in the 1998 ACC Tournament. Byrd finished seventh individually.

Jani Saari, like Glover a resident of Greenville, SC, fired a final round 70 on Tuesday and finished with a 54-hole score of 211, two-under-par. It was the top tournament of his career, his first under-par event as a Tiger. He finished in a tie for 14th individually.

John Engler, Clemson’s career scoring leader, fired a 69 on Tuesday to tie for low round of the last round by a Tiger. Engler had a disappointing 77 in the first round, but came back with rounds of 70 and 69 to finish 23rd with a 216 score. Sophomore Michael Hoey shot a 76 on Tuesday and finished at 223 a tie for 45th.

Clemson will next be in action November 5-7 at the Palmetto Dunes in Hilton Head, SC. It will be Clemson’s final tournament of the fall.