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CUTrevor
2021-04-25 19:26:07
Atlanta, Ga.—Kyle Cottam and Jacob Bridgeman both had rounds
of two-under-par 68 on Sunday morning to lead fourth-ranked Clemson to a
second-place team finish in the stroke play qualifier of the ACC Men’s Golf
Tournament at The Capital City Crabapple Course in Atlanta, Ga. North Carolina, ranked 17th in the nation
entering the tournament, finished first
with a score of 26-under-par 814, 15 shots ahead of the Tigers. NC State was third with an 831 score and
Florida State was fourth at 845. Those four teams will go into the match play semifinals that
will begin at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
Number-one seed North Carolina will face number-four seed Florida State
and number-two seed Clemson will face number-three NC State in the semifinal
pairings. The two winners will play for
the ACC Championship on Monday. Florida State, ranked second in the nation entering the
tournament, got into the match play championship when Jon Pak, the number-one
ranked player in the nation, made a par on the 18th hole. Wake Forest and Georgia Tech players made
bogey to allow Florida State to qualify by a shot. Clemson defeated the Pack by five shots in stroke play on
Sunday morning and by two shots over the 54 holes, but match play is a totally different format. This is the first tournament in which Clemson
and NC State have competed against each other this year. This will be Clemson’s first match play competition since
October of 2019 when the Tigers won the Jack Nicklaus Match Play in Dublin,
Ohio. Clemson was also co-champion of
the 2018 Nicklaus Match Play. Those are
the only two match play tournament victories in Clemson golf history. The Tigers are 19-11-1 overall in match play,
all under current Clemson head coach Larry Penley, who is retiring at the end
of this year after 38 years at the helm of the program. Cottam, Bridgeman and Turk Pettit all had top 10 finishes in
the stroke play tournament that
determined the individual ACC Champion.
Cottam finished fourth with a 205 score after rounds of 67-70-68, while
Bridgeman finished fifth with a 206 score after rounds of 71-67-68. He led the Tigers in birdies with 14, while
Cottam had 12. Pettit had rounds of
70-67-71 for a 208 total to finish 10th, his fifth top 10 this year. Colby Patton gave Clemson a fourth top 15 finishers with a
210 total for 54 holes. He had rounds of
69-70-71 to finish tied for 14th. Zack
Gordon had his best round of the tournament on Sunday with a one-over-par 71,
including a two-under par on the back.
He finished 43rd with a 221 total. This marked the first time since 2016 and just the third
time since Clemson’s National Championship season of 2003 that four Tigers
finished in the top 14 of the ACC Tournament.
Clemson also did it in 2015. A key reason Clemson finished ahead of NC State was holes
9-12. The ninth hole was the most
difficult on the course, as the par four 520-yard hole played into the
wind. Clemson counted two bogeys, but
Cottam made a 20-foot putt for par and Pettit made a 15-footer for par. NC State’s players played the hole at
five-over-par. Clemson then played holes
10-12 at six-under to move five shots ahead of the Wolfpack. “Those two par putts on nine were huge from a momentum
standpoint,” said Head Coach Larry Penley.
“We knew we could make some birdies on holes 10-12, and we did.” Atlantic Coast
Conference Men’s Golf Championship Stroke Play, April 23-25, 2021 Capital City Crabapple Course, Atlanta, Ga. Par 70, 7319 Yards Team Results 1. North Carolina 814, 2. Clemson 829, 3. NC
State 831, 4. Florida State 845, 5.
Wake Forest and Georgia Tech, 846,
7. Virginia 859, 8. Duke 863,
9. Louisville 865, 10. Virginia Tech 867, 11.
Notre Dame 870, 12. Boston College 873. Clemson Individuals 4. Kyle Cottam
67-70-68/205; 5. Jacob Bridgeman 71-67-68/206;
10. Turk Pettit
70-67-71/208; 14. Chris Patton
69-70-71/ 210; 43.
Zack Gordon 76-74-71/221. |
