Trahan Wins Nicklaus Award

June 3, 2002

Clemson, SC – Clemson junior D.J. Trahan won the Jack Nicklaus Award Monday as the top player in college golf for the 2001-02 academic year. The Award is presented by the Golf Coaches Association of America and is voted on by college coaches. Trahan was also named to the Association’s Ping All-America first-team. Teammate Gregg Jones, a sophomore, was named a second-team All-American.

It is the second national award for Trahan in the last month. In May, he won the Ben Hogan Award as the top amateur player in college golf. The Hogan Award takes into account amateur tournaments in addition to college events, while the Nicklaus Award considers only the performance in college tournaments.

Both Trahan and Jones led the Tigers to a third-place finish at the NCAA Tournament in Columbus, OH last weekend. Trahan finished eighth overall with a 281 score, while Jones was 17th with a 283 score. Trahan ranked second in the final Sagarin rankings, while Jones finished 12th in the final rankings.

Trahan finished the year with a 70.33 stroke average, an all-time Clemson single season record and the eighth lowest stroke average in NCAA history. He set Clemson season marks for wins (three), top 10 finishes (10), under-par rounds (27), rounds in he 60s (16) and rounds at par or better (34). He won the NCAA East Regional Championship in May.

Jones finished the year with a 71.81 stroke average, eighth best in Clemson history for a season. He had 10 rounds in the 60s and four top 10 finishes, including a second place finish at the Augusta State Invitational when he fired a 13-under-par 203 to tie a Clemson record for low 54 hole score vs. par on a par 72 hole course. Jones finished 11th at the ACC Tournament and 13th at the NCAA East Regional.