Top Ranked Golf Travels to Augusta State

March 31, 2003

The #1 ranked Clemson golf team will travel to Augusta, GA this coming weekend for the Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational. The 54-hole two-day tournament will be played April 5 and 6 at the par 72 Forest Hills Golf Club.

The 17-team event will feature 10 of the top 21 teams in the country and 14 of the top 40. Atlantic Coast Conference schools participating in the event are Clemson, Duke, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, NC State, and Wake Forest. Southeastern Conference schools participating are Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina. Oklahoma State, ranked second in the nation, is also in the field this week and is coming off three consecutive wins.

The Tigers are coming off a second-place finish at the Schenkel in Statesboro, GA March 22-23. The Cleveland Golf/Augusta State Invitational will be Clemson’s last tournament before post season play begins April 18-20 with the ACC Tournament. Clemson has finished in first or second place in seven of the eight tournaments so far this year. The only tournament Clemson failed to finish in the top two was the Las Vegas Invitational in March. The Tigers were third in that event.

This weekend’s lineup will include senior D.J. Trahan the second ranked player in the nation according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings. Jack Ferguson, a sophomore who is ranked 10th, and Matt Hendrix, who is ranked 11th will also be playing for Larry Penley’s Tigers.

Gregg Jones will also be in the field for the Tigers. The junior shot a career best 13-under par 203 at this event last year before losing in a playoff to David Skins of Tennessee. Senior Ben Duncan, coming off a 19th place finish at the Azalea Invitational amateur tournament in Charleston this past weekend, will also be in the lineup for the Tigers.