Clemson wins Palmetto Intercollegiate

All five Clemson golfers finished in the top 15 to lead Clemson to a five-shot victory at the Palmetto Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate on Tuesday. (Clemson athletics photo)

CU Athletic Communications - Tuesday, March 11 2025

Clemson, SC—All five Clemson golfers finished in the top 15 to lead Clemson to a five-shot victory at the Palmetto Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate on Tuesday. The event was shortened to 36 holes after poor weather allowed the 15-team field to play just 11 of a scheduled 36 holes on Monday.

The victory was the first of the year for the Tigers, who will next be in action March 27-29 at The Goodwin Intercollegiate at The TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. It marked the fourth time Clemson had won the Palmetto Cleveland Golf Intercollegiate in the last five years and the 11th time in the history of the event.

“It was a team effort,” said Head Coach Jordan Byrd. “Everyone was in the game all day and that was good to see.

“The weather was as bad as I have seen on Monday, but it was much nicer today and suitable for scoring. Andrew Swanson got up and down all day. It wasn’t his best ball striking day, but he made a lot of five and six footers to shoot 67,

“Lucas Augustsson’s 68 in the first round was extraordinary. He had one bad hole this morning when he was unlucky with his tee shot on 17 and the ball hit a tree and bounced into a hazard. But he came back strong to finish that round at 68, then was solid in the second round.”

The weather was much improved on Tuesday on the par 70 Palmetto Golf Club course in Aiken, SC. Clemson improved by 15 shots over its first round and four of the five Tigers shot par or better in the second round. All 15 teams had better team scores in the second round compared with their first.

Clemson won the event with a score of three-over-par 563 after shooting a six-under-par 274 in the second round, the best team round of the tournament. Host school USC Aiken finished second at 568, while Campbell was third at 571 and East Carolina was fourth at 583. Virginia Tech was the only other ACC team in the field and the Hokies finished eighth at 604.

All five Clemson golfers finished in the top 15 of the 75-player tournament. It was the first time five Tigers finished in the top 15 of any tournament since the 2014 Hummingbird Invitational, which had a 12-team field. It marked the first time all five Tigers finished in the top 15 of a tournament that had at least 15 teams since the 1999 Puerto Rico Classic. That 1999 team included future PGA Tour players John Engler, Lucas Glover and Jonathan Byrd.

Clemson was led on Tuesday by Swanson who had a three-under par 67, senior Kian Rose with a 68 and Thomas Higgins with a 69. Freshman Rich Wills had an even par 70, a seven shot improvement over his first round.

Augustsson was Clemson’s non-counter in the second round with a 71, but the East Carolina transfer was Clemson’s top golfer for the tournament with a 139 score, good enough for third place. He had opening round 68 that was remarkable in the difficult playing conditions.

Higgins had rounds of 71-69 to finish fifth with a 140 total, while Swanson finished seventh with a 141 total after rounds of 74-67. Rose finished 11th with scores of 76-68 and Wills finished 15th with a 147 score after rounds of 77-70. Rose’s round included and eagle two on the 306-yard par four 18th hole. He drove the green and made a 15-foot putt for the eighth eagle of his career.

Clemson led the field in par four scoring with a 4.08 team average. Clemson was also outstanding on the par five holes with a 4.85 average.