CARLSBAD, Calif. — Clemson will open play at the NCAA Men’s Golf Tournament at the Omni LaCosta Resort in Carlsbad, California on Friday, May 24. The Tigers will be paired with players from West Virginia and Utah at the par 72 course that is playing host to the event for the first time.
All 30 teams will play three rounds of stroke play, 18 holes a day, Friday through Sunday. The top 15 teams will advance to a fourth round on Monday. An individual champion will be crowned after play Monday. The top eight teams after Monday’s fourth round will advance to the Match Play tournament that will determine the overall team champion on Wednesday.
Clemson is the #28 seed in the 30-team tournament. Clemson qualified by winning the Chapel Hill Regional at the Finley Course on May 15. Clemson was the #10 seed at the Chapel Hill Regional, but surprised the field by shooting 25-under-par 815, a school record for total score and score vs par at an NCAA Regional Tournament.
Clemson became the first school to win an NCAA Regional as a double-digit seed on May 15, then West Virginia duplicated the feat later in the day. Now the two schools will play together for the first two rounds.
Clemson’s first player to tee off will be Alberto Dominguez at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time, 11:30 a.m. on the east coast. Calahan Keever will follow in the 8:41 a.m. tee time. Andrew Swanson begins his first national tournament at 8:52 a.m. Pacific, and Thomas Higgins will follow at 9:03 a.m. Jonathan Nielsen, Clemson’s top player, will be the last Tiger off the tee at 9:14 a.m.
Nielsen has had an outstanding season with six top 10 finishes and a team best 70.79 stroke average, 11th best in school history. He has 20 under-par rounds, including 15 rounds in the 60s, tied for third in Clemson history for a single season.
Keever is second on the team in stroke average for the year at 72.21. He was Clemson’s top player at the Chapel Hill Regional with a fifth-place finish. Hs 200 score, included rounds of 65-65 for his first 36 holes, the best 36-hole start to an NCAA Tournament in Clemson history, just one shot off the 36-hole record for any tournament.
Higgins has a 72.32 average for the year, third best on the team. He was Clemson’s third best player at the Chapel Hill Regional with a 204 score, good enough for 14th place. His second round 63 was the best score in Clemson history in any NCAA Tournament.
Swanson has a 72.50 stroke average for the…
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