Clemson Golf Does Not Advance to Finals

by Press Release - Sat May 21 17:34:35 GMT-04:00 2005

Nashville, TN -- Jack Ferguson, Brent Delahoussaye, Brian Duncan and Stephen Poole all shot one-under-par rounds of 70, but it was not enough for the Clemson golf team at the NCAA East Regional at The Golf Club of Tennessee near Nashville on Saturday.

The Tigers 280 team score left Larry Penley's team two shots short off the 10-team cutline in 11th place, and thus ended the season short of an

NCAA Finals bid. The top 10 teams in each of the three NCAA regional

sites advance to the Finals at Caves Valley Golf Club in Baltimore, MD.

Wake Forest won the tournament with an 835 team score, 17 under par and two shots ahead of second place Tennessee.

It marked the first time all year Clemson had four players score under par in the same round and the four under par 280 score was the third best round vs. par all year.

Clemson finished with a 54-hole team score of 852, two shots worse than the 850 scored by 10th place Georgia Southern, who played with the

Tigers all three days of the tournament. This ends Clemson's 23-year

streak of advancing to the NCAA Finals, the second longest active streak in

college golf. This will be the first time since 1981 that Clemson will

not play in the National championship tournament.

It appeared that Clemson was a lock to reach the top 10 entering the last couple of holes, but the Tigers played the eighth hole, their 17th of the day, one over par as a team, then played the ninth hole, Clemson's

final hole of the day, at three over. Clemson had counted three bogeys on

that same hole on Friday.

Clemson got off to a terrific start, and was nine-under par as a

team for the opening nine holes. Clemson stood in sixth place entering

the final nine holes. Poole, who had tallied rounds of 68 and 72 the

first two days, was four under-par for his first nine, holes 10-18. His opening nine score of 31 included a 15-foot chip-in from off the green on the par three 14th hole, and a 50-foot chip-in on the par three 16th.

Poole added a birdie on his second nine on the fifth hole, and was

five under par standing on the seventh tee, his 16th hole of the day. He

drove his ball into the woods, but still made a miraculous bogey. He hit

his fourth shot from the fairway from 125 yards to within three feet of the

pin, then made the putt for a bogey six. He hit his tee shot on the par

three eighth past the green into high grass, and made double bogey, then bogeyed the nine hole when he could not get up and down from the right side of the green.

The junior from Spartanburg was the top Clemson golfer at the event with a 210 score. It was quite a performance considering he had not

played since March 11 when the Tigers were in Las Vegas. The 210 score

for the event tied his career best. He also had a 210 at the Atlanta Intercollegiate and the ACC Tournament last year.

Jack Ferguson and Brent Delahoussaye both concluded their collegiate careers on Saturday with one-under par rounds of 70. Ferguson finishes his career fifth in school history in career stroke average and in the top 10 in Clemson history in rounds under par and rounds at par or

better. He played on three Clemson NCAA East Regional Championship teams

and one National Championship team.

Ferguson, who had fired a 33 on the front side to conclude his round on Friday, had a 33 on the back nine to start his round on Saturday. He birdied both par fives on the front and had a birdie on the difficult par three 14th hole when he made a 10 foot putt from the left

side of the green. He shot a 37 on the front side to finish with a 70

for the day, his third consecutive rounds at par or better at the event to finish with a 211 score for the 54 holes.

Delahoussaye's final round as a Tiger featured consecutive birdies on the fifth, sixth and seventh holes, but, like Ferguson, he bogeyed the final hole, the difficult ninth that plagued the Tigers all week. The Clemson graduate from Greenville improved his score by two shots each day of the tournament.

Duncan shot a 32 on the back nine, his first nine holes of the

day. He made birdies on the 11th and 13th holes when he hit his approach

shots within three feet of the pin. He also birdied the par five 17th hole, his eighth of the day. But, Duncan struggled on the back, shooting

38 for his final nine holes, including back to back bogeys on the sixth and seventh holes. He hit his second shot on the par five seventh into a sand trap that was just 20 feet from the pin, but it took him four more shots to finish the hole.

Freshman Tanner Ervin shot a four over par 75 on Sunday, but his score did not count towards Clemson's team score.

Clemson at NCAA East Regional

Golf Club of Tennessee

Par 71, 6864 yards

Stephen Poole 68 72 70 210 -3

Jack Ferguson 71 70 70 211 -2

Brent Dalahoussaye 74 72 70 216 +3

Brian Duncan 72 76 70 218 +5

Tanner Ervin 80 73 75 228 +15

Clemson Team 285 288 280 852 Even