Clemson heads into the 2023 spring schedule with the goal of making an NCAA Regional for the seventh straight year the tournament has been held and the NCAA National Tournament for the second time in school history. Kelley Hester’s team had a solid fall with a 43-25 record against the field in five fall events and a #35 national ranking, according to Golfstat.
The Tigers finished a strong second place to 2021 NCAA champion Mississippi at the Cougar Classic to start the season thanks to a 12-under-par score of 840. The team ended the fall strong with consecutive under-par rounds at the Battle at the Beach in Mexico to finish fifth out of 17 teams in the strong field.
Overall, Clemson faced 12 different top-25 teams and defeated six of them, including ninth-ranked Florida State and 11th-ranked Baylor, at least once.
“We had some outstanding team rounds in the fall, we just need to be more consistent,” said Hester, who is in her seventh season leading the program. “We were a team that made a lot of birdies in the fall, and we are capable of going low.” Clemson scored under par as a team in six of the 15 fall rounds.
“We showed what we were capable of in the first tournament when we finished second at the Cougar Classic and lost by just one shot to Mississippi. We beat them each of the last two rounds with team scores in the 270s.”
Hester feels her team is perhaps the deepest squad she has had at Clemson. “I really feel we have seven young ladies capable of winning a golf tournament. Five of the seven shot in the 60s this fall, and we had three record a top-10 finish.
“We have a strong team with women who can drive the ball a long way, which means they are capable of making a lot of birdies.” The seven golfers who competed in the fall combined to make 211 birdies in 76 individual rounds, an average of 2.78 birdies per round and up from 2.38 a year ago. They combined for 15 rounds in the 60s, 20 under-par rounds and 28 at par or better.
Hester also is encouraged by the depth of the team this past fall when three different women led the team in tournaments. “We had three different players record a top 10, and four recorded a top 13. Three different women had four rounds in the 60s, so it is good to see we aren’t depending on one player. I would just like to see more of them play consistently over the 54 holes of the tournament.”
Savannah Grewal led the team in stroke average in the fall with a 72.29 figure, as she had a…
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