CLEMSON, S.C. — For the second consecutive season, Clemson will open its season in Arizona at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate at Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. Head coach Jordan Byrd hopes his team has similar results to last year when the Tigers finished second out of 14 teams and with an all-time record score of 797, 43-under-par.
The tournament will run from Friday, September 9 through Sunday, September 11. The Tigers will bring seven total players, as two will play as individuals. Live scoring will be available on golfstat.com.
The Tigers will have a different lineup compared to last year as three seniors off last year’s NCAA Tournament team have graduated. Only one player who was in the lineup for last year’s Maui Jim will be in the lineup this weekend.
Carter Pendley is that only common denominator between the 2021 and 2022 Clemson lineups for this event. The native of Dalton, Ga. did well with rounds of 66-70-66 for a 202 total that put him in 17th place at the end of 54 holes. The rounds of 66 on the par 70 layout are the low rounds of his career.
Pendley is a veteran of 12 tournaments as a Clemson Tiger, including seven last year when he had a 75.05 stroke average. He had his only top 10 of the year at the Wake Forest Invitational when he finished seventh, a big contributor to Clemson’s team victory. He posted rounds of 75-71-70 at the famed Pinehurst #2 course.
Drayton Stewart will play in the number-one spot in the Clemson lineup after winning the team qualifying tournament held over the last two weeks. He has played just four tournaments in his Clemson career but has been much improved this year. He had a pair of top 20 finishes in major amateur tournaments this past summer, then shot 11-under-par for the four team qualifying rounds to win by three shots.
Kian Rose did not play in the Clemson lineup at Maui Jim last year, but he did play as an individual and shot two-under-par 208 for his 54 holes, so he has experience on this course. For the 2021-22 season, Rose posted a 73.60 stroke average, best among returning Tigers. The native of South Africa played in 10 tournaments overall last year, eight in the Clemson lineup, and had 10 rounds at par or better.
Jonathan Nielsen, a transfer from Carson-Newman, will play the number-three slot in the Clemson lineup this weekend. Nielsen is a junior from Denmark who was a second-team Division II All-American last year at Carson-Newman. He posted a school record 71.0 stroke average and had…
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