Clemson, S.C. – On March 12, 2020, the Clemson women’s golf team had just concluded its practice round ahead of the Clover Cup in Mesa, Ariz. before returning back to the Upstate the following day when the world came to a screeching halt. This weekend, the Tigers will compete in their first formal tournament in 343 days as they open up the spring season in Sarasota, Fla. at the Army Ranger Lead the Way Fund Heroes Ladies Intercollegiate.
The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be hosted by Purdue at The Founders Golf Club and will mark the first year of the event that now replaces the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, which the Boilermakers hosted from 2003-19. The field will showcase 15 teams with four representing the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Ivy Shepherd, Savannah Grewal, Alexandra Swayne, Annabelle Pancake, and Gracyn Burgess will represent the Tigers in their first event of the year.
Shepherd, who led the team last season with a 72.44 stroke average across six tournaments, will look to get off to a hot start among a strong field. The Peachtree City, Ga. native had a packed off-season as she advanced to the Semifinals of the North-South Amateur held at Pinehurst.
Grewal and Swayne both competed in five tournaments across the 2019-20 season as they ranked third and fifth on the team for stroke average, respectively. Burgess made two appearances in the Tigers’ lineup last season including a performance at White Sands Invitational that ranked third for best individual tournament vs. par highlighted by a four-under 68 round that ranked second among the team vs. par.
Pancake, a freshman from Zionsville, Ind., will make her debut for the Clemson squad. Pancake comes into the lineup after being ranked 10th in the nation, second in the class of 2020 among junior girls by Golfweek.com.
The Field
Augusta, Clemson, (10) Georgia, Illinois, (34) Iowa State, Minnesota, (3) Mississippi, (54) NC State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, (15) Oklahoma State, (25) Purdue, (17) Tennessee, (21) Texas Tech, and Virginia Tech.
Rankings based on the Feb. 3 Golfweek/Sagarin poll
Live scoring for the Heroes Ladies Intercollegiate is available via Golfstat.
