Teams:

From East Regional (11): Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, East Tennessee State, Duke, North Carolina, Richmond, Mississippi, Augusta State, Clemson

From Central Regional (10): Minnesota, Northwestern, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Houston, Toledo, Illinois, Arkansas, Kansas, Colorado.

From West Regional (9): Arizona State, UNLV, BYU, California, Oregon, San Diego State, Washington, Colorado State, Arizona

ACC Teams (4): Clemson, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Duke, as well as individual competitor Michael Capone from Wake Forest

Clemson Tee Times

Wednesday, June 2
1:12 PM to 1:48 (with South Carolina, Houston)

Thursday, June 3
8:15 PM to 8:51 (with South Carolina, Houston)

Clemson's NCAA Tournament History

Top Individual Score: 272 (-16) by Charles Warren, 1998 at Albuquerque, NM

Low Round, NCAA Play: 65 (-7), 3rd round, Mark Swygert, 1994 at McKinney, TX

Clemson Coach

Head Coach: Larry Penley (Clemson '81)

Years: 16th

NCAA National Seasons: 16 (12 top 20 seasons, 5 top 10 seasons, 4 top 5 seasons)

Best NCAA Finish: 2nd (1998)

Career 1st Place Finishes: 42 of 194 career tournaments

Career Top 5 Finishes: 115 of 194 career tournaments

NCAA Regional Champions: 3 (1993-94-95)

ACC Championships: 5 (1987-88-90-97-98)

1999 Championships: 5 (The Ridges, Jerry Pate, Mauna Kea, San Juan, Schenkel)

1998 East Regional Finish: tied for 10th

1998-99 Rankings: 4th in Mastercard, 1st in Golfweek/Sagarin

Clemson Honors, Championships in 1998-99

Golf Notes on the Clemson Tigers

Byrd Named to Academic All-District III Team

Clemson junior All-ACC golfer Jonathan Byrd has been named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-District III Spring sports at-large team.

The team is composed of student-athletes from tennis, track, golf and lacrosse. Byrd will now be a candidate for the national team, which will be chosen by a 40-person committee in June.

Byrd, who is a dean's list student in marketing, is one of four golfers named to the team. The others chosen were Brad Fritsch of Campbell, Jim Gardas of Charleston Southern and Bryce Molder of Gerogia Tech. Byrd has been ranked among the top 10 college golfers in all three college golf rating systems all year.

Byrd, a native of Columbia, SC, is Clemson's leader in stroke average this year with a 71.81 figure. His 72.68 career average is second in Clemson history. He is a three-time All-ACC selection, the only player in Clemson history to be honored as a freshman, sophomore and junior. He will join his Clemson teammates at the NCAA national tournament June 2-5 at Hazeltine in Chaska, MN.

Cuts in the 1990s

Clemson is one of four teams to make at least eight of the nine cuts at the NCAA Tournaments in the 1990s. Arizona State and Oklahoma State have made every cut. Arizona State is the only school to finish in the top 10 every year of the 1990s. Clemson and Florida have made eight of the nine cuts. Clemson is the only school to rank in the top three each of the last two years.

Top Programs in the Nineties
(Most Top 15 Finishes in the 1990s, NCAA Tournament)

Team        1990  91  92  93  94  95  96  97  98
Arizona State  1   3   2   6   9   4   1   5   5
Oklahoma State 4   1   3  12   5   1   8   5   4
Clemson       12  13  12   4   9      14   3   2
Florida        2       7   1   3  13   6  15  14

Clemson's Last Trip to Hazeltine

John Engler shot one-over-par golf over 54 holes and finished second individually to highlight Clemson's play at the Ping-Golfweek Preview at Hazeltine Country Club in Chaska, MN last September 28-29. The Tigers finished seventh as a team with a 896 team score.

The 896 team score was 32 over par, Clemson's worst tournament of the year versus par. Clemson shot a 307 on the first day, also its worst round of the year and the 19 over par for the day tied for its worst round of the season. But, the course played tough for most of the teams as the Tigers still finished in the top half of the field.

Engler had rounds of 73-72-72 for a 217 total. He was just one stroke behind Charles Howell of Oklahoma State, who had rounds of 73-69-74 for an even par 216. Both Howell and Engler are natives of Augusta, GA. Jeremy Parrott of Georgia also shot a 217 over 54 holes to tie Engler for second.

Oklahoma State won the team title with an 880 score, 16-over par. The Cowboys won the event by eight shots over Georgia. The Bulldogs had an 888 team score, one better than Arizona State and three better than host school Minnesota.

Houston was fifth, Florida sixth and Clemson seventh. Defending national champion UNLV had a 310 final round and finished eighth with an even 900 team score. Georgia Tech was the only other ACC school in the tournament and finished ninth with a 905 score. The Preview featured15 of the top 25 teams in the nation. Clemson was ranked fourth in the nation entering the tournament.

The Tigers had three of the top 25 individuals. In addition to Engler's performance, junior Jonathan Byrd finished tied for ninth with a 221 score, five-over par. He had a consistent tournament with scores of 74-73-74. It was his second straight top 10 performance of the fall as he won the Ridges Intercollegiate two weeks ago in Johnson City, TN.

Lucas Glover, who had finished second at The Ridges, came back from a tough start to finish tied for 21st. After an opening round of 80, the former Wade Hampton High player from Greenville, SC played 36 holes at even par (71-73).

Clemson's four and five players struggled throughout the event and tied for 67th. Sean Thornton and Elliot Gealy, a pair of seniors, were at 240 for the event. Neither will play for the Tigers in the NCAAs. Michael Hoey and Jani Saari have moved into the lineup since.

Clemson Preview and NCAA National Comparison

One would think that a team's performance in the fall at the Preview would be an indication of how they will fare at the NCAA finals. Afterall, both events are played on the same course against many of the same teams.

However, that has not been the case with Clemson the last two years. Each year Clemson has finished in the middle of the pack or worse in the fall, then came on strong to finish third and second in the nation, respectively at the NCAA finals in the spring. In 1996-97 Clemson was sixth out of 12 teams in the fall and was 52 over par for three rounds at Conway Farms in Chicago. In the spring, Clemson finished third out of 30 teams and was just 17 over par for four rounds.

The same thing happened last year. The Tigers were ninth out of 15 teams in the fall at the University Course at Albuquerque in the fall and finished second out of 30 teams in the spring. Clemson was 10 over par for three rounds in the fall and 31-under, the second best NCAA Tournament performance in the event's history, in the spring.

Overall, Clemson has improved in terms of performance versus par, and final ranking on a percentage basis in each of the last three years when evaluating the Preview and the NCAA Finals. The Preview dates to the 1989-90 year at Tarpon Springs, FL. In 1995-96, the Preview was held in Oregon, but the NCAAs were held in Chattanooga, so it is left out of the comparison that follows.

Clemson Comparison at Preview and NCAA Finals
  
  Year     Site              Season  Finish    Pct  Score  Vs Par
  1989-90  Tarpon Springs, FL  Fall  4 of 12   .333   579  +3
                             Spring  12 of 30  .400  1174  +22
  1990-91  Pebble Beach, CA    Fall  1 of 15   .067   867  +3
                             Spring  13 of 30  .433  1196  +44
  1991-92  Albuquerque, NM     Fall  12 of 15  .800   872  +8  
                             Spring  12 of 30  .400  1166  +14
  1992-93  Lexington, KY       Fall  2 of 15   .133   880  +16
                             Spring  4 of 30   .133  1153  +1
  1993-94  McKinney, TX        Fall  4 of 18   .222   883  +19  
                             Spring  9 of 30   .300  1151  -1
  1994-95  Columbus, OH        Fall  14 of 18  .778   604  +28
                             Spring  21 of 30  .700   594  +18
  1995-96  Cornelius, OR       Fall  3 of 18   .167   882  +18
           Chattanooga, TN   Spring  14 of 30  .467  1227  +75
  1996-97  Chicago, IL         Fall  6 of 12   .500   904  +52
                             Spring  3 of 30   .100  1153  +17
  1997-98  Albuquerque, NM     Fall  9 of 15   .600   874  +10
                             Spring  2 of 30   .067  1121  -31
  1998-99  Chaska, MN          Fall  7 of 15   .467   896  +32
                             Spring  ?????      

Veterans in NCAA Tournament Play

While Clemson is taking its second youngest team ever to the NCAA national tournament, Clemson has three players who are veterans of NCAA Tournament play. Jonathan Byrd will be playing in his third straight NCAA National tournament, while Lucas Glover and John Engler will be in their second. Sophomore Jani Saari and freshman Michael Hoey will be in their first NCAA Championship.

Byrd, Glover and Engler all playedwell for the Tigers in Albuquerque last year. They were a combined even par for the 72 holes. Engler was -2 and finished 34th, while Glover and Byrd tied at +1 for a 42nd place finish. They were factors in Clemson's second place finish.

Byrd also played on Clemson's third place finishing team of 1997. He fired a 301 for the four-day even at Conway Farms and finished 70th. He shot a final round 72, helping Clemson to a 284 team score on the final day. His score counted three of the four days in 1997 and three of the four days in 1998.

Byrd, Engler and Glover all have stroke averages that rank in the top 12 in Clemson history in NCAA National Tournament play. Byrd's 73.75 average is 12th. Engler ranks first with a 71.50 average for his four rounds and one tournament, while Glover is third at 72.25.

Clemson Vets in NCAA Play
(Note: Overall includes NCAA Regional play)

Jonathan Byrd
             Trn  Rds  Stks  60s  75-  Par  -Par   Avg  BR  vs. Par
  Overall      5  17   1258   1   12    1     3  74.00  67  +46
  Finals Only  2   8    590   0    6    0     2  73.75  70  +18

Lucas Glover
             Trn  Rds  Stks  60s  75-  Par  -Par   Avg  RB  vs. Par
  Overall      3  10    725   0    8    3     4  72.50  70  +7
  Finals Only  1   4    289   0    3    1     2  72.25  70  +1

John Engler
             Trn  Rds  Stks  60s  75-  Par  -Par   Avg  RB  vs. Par
  Overall      3  10    717   1   10    3     4  71.70  69  -1
  Finals Only  1   4    286   0    4    2     2  71.50  71  -2  

Tigers Taking Second Youngest Team to NCAA Nationals

This will be the second youngest team Clemson has taken to the NCAA National Tournament. The Tigers will bring three sophomores, a freshman and a junior to Hazeltine for the NCAA Tournament, a total of 10 years of experience of college golf. That includes sophomore Jani Saari, who has played just two events in his career.

The youngest team to compete for the Tigers at the NCAA Tournament is eight combined years of experience in 1995. That team was composed of three freshmen (Charles Warren, Joey Maxon and Chad Starliper), a sophomore (Richard Coughlan) and a junior (Mike Byce). That team finished 21st at the tournament at Ohio State, the only year in the decade of the 1990s that Clemson has failed to make the cut.

Clemson's 1987 team also had just 10 total years of experience. That Clemson team had two freshmen, a sophomore and two juniors. Ironically, that tournament was also held at Ohio State. Clemson made the cut that year and finished 11th.

Clemson has finished in the top five in five NCAA Tournaments. No Clemson team with less than 12 years of experience in the lineup has finished in the top five. The average amount of experience for Clemson's five top 5 finishing teams is 15 years.

Youngest Clemson Teams at the NCAA Nationals

Year  Site              Fr.  So.  Jr.  Sr.  Tot  Finish
1995  Columbus, OH       3    1    1    0    8   21st
1998  Chaska, MN         1    3    1    0   10   ??
1987  Columbus, OH       2    1    2    0   10   11th
1982  Pinehurst, NC      1    2    2    0   11   16th
1990  Tarpon Springs, FL 3    0    0    2   11   12th
1991  Pebble Beach, CA   1    3    0    1   11   13th
1992  Albuquerque, NM    1    1    3    0   12   12th
1998  Albuquerque, NM    2    1    0    2   12   2nd

Byrd High in Clemson Career Rankings

Clemson junior Jonathan Byrd is quickly moving up the Clemson career charts. Wit this outstanding 1998-99 year that has included a 71.81 stroke average, 10 rounds in the 60s and seven top 10 finishes, he has moved into the top five in Clemson history in five different areas. He is second in career stroke average and is already third in rounds in the 60s with 23. He is just seven off Chris Patton's Clemson career record in that area.

Also noteworthy is his number-four ranking in career top 10 finishes with 20. He has achieved that total in just 38 career tournaments and is the only player in Clemson history to finish in the top 10 in more than half of his events. He is also already fourth in school history in under par rounds with 43. He is just 10 shot of Kevin Johnson's career record.

Byrd in Career Rankings:

Clemson Qualifies for NCAA Nationals in Playoff for final spot

Jonathan Byrd, John Engler, Lucas Glover and Jani Saari all posted two-putt pars, allowing Clemson to defeat Mississippi State in a playoff and qualify for the NCAA National golf championships. It is the 18th consecutive year Clemson has qualified for the National tournament, but Saturday was the closest Clemson has come to missing the cut. The tournament was played at Rhode Island Country club in Barrington, RI.

Officially, the Tigers finished 11th in the 23 team field. The top 11 teams qualify for the National tournament. Clemson, ranked second in the tournament heading into the final round, had a team round of 303 on Saturday, its second worst single day total of the year.

The Tigers actually finished in a tie for 10th place with Augusta College and Mississippi State at 876 after regulation play. Thus a playoff was required with two of the three teams moving on to the nationals. All five players on each team played a different hole simultaneously.

Augusta State had a team score of one under par, Clemson was even and Mississippi State was three-over par. That allowed Augusta State to claim the number-10 spot, and Clemson the number-11 spot.

Clemson had struggled all day with the 303 score. No Tiger was within two strokes of par. John Engler led the Tigers with a 74, while first-team All-ACC players Jonathan Byrd and Lucas Glover had 77s. Freshman Michael Hoey had a 75 and sophomore Jani Saari had a 77.

Augusta State got in to the playoff with a 283 on Saturday, while Mississippi State had a 285. Thus, Clemson won the playoff against a Mississippi State team that had scored 18 strokes better than the Tigers during the 18-hole round earlier in the day.

Clemson had finished its round at 1:15 PM and had a five-hour wait to see if could even make a playoff. South Alabama was eight over par on its last three holes and North Florida was 10 over for their last nine, allowing Clemson to get into the playoff.

"We practiced on the putting green until about 4:00 PM, then we got in the van and went to a nearby public beach," said Head Coach Larry Penley. "We needed to clear our minds and prepare for the playoff. It was actually Michael Hoey's idea. We got off by ourself and got some fresh air for about an hour, then came back to the course." Mississippi State, the team Clemson defeated in the playoff, is coached by former Clemson All-American Nicky Goetze, who started four years for Penley (1990-93).