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NCAA NationalKarsten Creek Golf Course

Stillwater, OKMay 27-30, 2003 Par: 72 Yardage: 7207

Rk School 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Tot Par1. Clemson 299 302 287 303 1191 +392. Oklahoma St. 299 300 290 304 1193 +413. UCLA 303 295 301 298 1197 +454. Wake Forest 304 306 290 298 1198 +46 Florida 302 300 297 299 1198 +466. Arizona St. 306 308 297 291 1202 +507. Augusta St. 311 306 294 302 1213 +618. Auburn 299 303 301 312 1215 +639. No. Carolina 308 308 299 301 1216 +64 Texas 306 314 299 297 1216 +6411. Ga. Tech 310 306 302 300 1218 +66 Washington 314 300 301 303 1218 +6613. UNLV 313 300 295 312 1220 +6814. Southern Cal 300 311 298 312 1221 +6915. N.C. State 299 317 296 312 1224 +7216. Georgia 315 306 297 308 1226 +7417. Arizona 307 308 303 311 1229 +7718. Wichita St. 308 309 299 316 1232 +80Medalist: Alejandro Canizares, Arizona State (287)

Every school has special memories of its teams that have claimed national championships. That is certainly the case with Clemson, who won its fourth in the school’s athletic history on May 30, 2003 when the Tiger golf program won its first NCAA title with a two-shot victory over Oklahoma State at Karsten Creek in Stillwater, OK. Clemson won three national team titles in the 1980s, the football title in 1981, and men’s soccer in 1984 and 1987. All three of those championships were gained in extraordinary circumstances. The football team had finished 6-5 in the previ-ous season and was not ranked in any of the preseason top 20 polls for 1981. Then Danny Ford’s Tigers went a perfect 12-0, the only undefeated team in college football that year, finishing the year with a 22-15 win over perennial favorite Nebraska. The 1984 Clemson soccer team became the first team in any sport in NCAA history to defeat the numbers-four, three, two and one seeds in an NCAA Tournament in winning the national championship. Four years later Dr. I.M. Ibrahim’s team entered the tournament as the number-23 seeded team in the 24-team field, then won the championship in a Final Four played at Clemson’s Riggs Field. Unlike the program’s three previous titles, the Clemson golf team of 2002-03 had been ranked number-one in the nation from the preseason poll, and by a wide margin. Heading into the national tournament at Stillwater, Clemson’s margin over second-ranked Florida in the Golfweek/Sagarin rank-ing, was equal in computer points to the distance between #2 Florida and the 17th place team, New Mexico. “We had a dominating regular season,” said Head Coach Larry Penley when commenting on his 20th and most magical season at Clemson. “We were in every tournament and won five events before the NCAAs at Stillwater.” But, that momentum from the regular season did not carry much weight heading to the national

championships because the Tigers were faced with the task of winning the championship on Oklahoma State’s home course, the very challenging Karsten Creek. Many other schools have played host to the golf national championship in recent years, but those programs had not been ranked in the top 10 in the nation entering the event. In fact each of the last two University courses to play host to the event, Ohio State in 2002 and Duke in 2001, did not even have their teams qualify for the national tournament. Oklahoma State entered the tournament ranked fifth in the nation, and was on a hot streak entering the national tournament having recorded five tournament victories in the spring, including the NCAA Central Regional. The Cowboys had won nine national championships, including eight under current coach Mike Holder. “It was a big challenge and a lot of pressure, but this team was mature enough and prepared for it,” said Penley. “We had great leadership from D.J. Trahan and Ben Duncan all year and it carried over to the NCAAs.” Clemson was in or near the lead in each of the first three rounds, never trailing by more than four strokes at the end of any round. Clemson, Oklahoma State and UCLA, the top three teams all season, played together all four rounds, which added to the intrigue of the event. In many ways, Larry Penley’s golf team was faced with the task of playing the Final Four against Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium. The comparisons were amazing. Mike Holder has eight National Championships at Oklahoma State, Duke basketball Coach Mike Krzyewski has eight Final Fours at Duke. Cameron is known for its intimate atmosphere, while the NCAA allowed spectators to walk the fairways with the players the entire tournament. The final round was played in 90 degree heat. Prior to the installation of air conditioning in Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2002, it seemed to be 90 degrees in that

facility on days the Tiger basketball team has played at Duke. Aside from the atmosphere surrounding the course, you can make a case that the home course advantage in golf is greater than any other sport. Oklahoma State’s players play that course every day. They know where all the breaks are in slick greens, know what clubs to hit from every distance in the fairway, know when to go for broke and when to play conservatively. When Jack Ferguson hit his second shot to the 18th green in the final round, no less than 500 people (490 were Oklahoma State fans) stood as close as 15 yards from his back swing. When Oklahoma State’s Hunter Mahan put his second shot on 18 within 15 feet from the cup with a shot at an eagle three, you would have thought Shane Battier had just nailed a three-pointer with under 10 seconds left in Cam-

Clemson Golf Accomplishments of 2002-03

• NCAA Champions (First in Program’s History)• NCAA East Region Champions• Atlantic Coast Conference Champions• First team in NCAA history to win conference, regional and national championships in same year• Topy Cup Champions• Carpet Classic Champions• Jerry Pate Intercollegiate Champions• Ranked #1 in final Golfweek/Sagarin Computer rankings• Ranked number-one in Final Golf World Poll* Ranked #1 in Final Golf Coach’s Polls• D.J. Trahan, first-team All-American• Jack Ferguson, Second-team All-American•Matt Hendrix, Third-team All-American• Larry Penley, • ACC Coach of the Year• NCAA Coach of the Year by Golf Coach’s Association• NCAA Coach of the Year by Golfweek Magazine

Coach Larry Penley guided the Tigers to the 2003 National Championship, Clemson’s first title in any sport since 1987.

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Final 2003 Golfweek/Sagarin Rankings Rk School Points 1. Clemson 69.67 2. Florida 70.67 3. Wake Forest 70.76 4. Oklahoma State 70.81 5. Texas 70.90 6. Augusta State 70.94 7. Arizona 70.98 8. UCLA 71.05 9. UNLV 71.14 10. North Carolina 71.17 11. TCU 71.23 12. Georgia Tech 71.33 13. Georgia 71.36 14. Auburn 71.40 15. Arizona State 71.56 16. Minnesota 71.60 17. North Carolina State 71.72 18. New Mexico 71.81 19. Washington 71.83 20. College of Charleston 71.90 21. Tennessee 71.90 22. Illinois 71.90 23. Southern Cal 72.04 24. Arkansas 72.05 25. Duke 72.08

Final 2003 Individual Rankings Rk Player, School Points 1. Hunter Mahan, Oklahoma St. 68.69 2. D.J. Trahan, Clemson 69.22 3. Bill Haas, Wake Forest 69.57 4. Troy Matteson, Georgia Tech 69.60 5. Jack Ferguson, Clemson 69.62 6. Ricky Barnes, Arizona 69.65 7. Brandt Snedeker, Vanderbilt 69.82 8. Nick Watney, Fresno State 69.83 9. Matt Hendrix, Clemson 69.89 10. Chris Nallen, Arizona 69.95 11. Alejandro Canizares, Arizona St. 70.00 12. Oliver Wilson, Augusta State 70.03 13. Brock MacKenzie, Washington 70.06 14. Dustin Bray, North Carolina 70.09 15. Jason Hartwick, Texas 70.14 16. Camilo Villegas, Florida 70.16 17. Ryan Moore, UNLV 70.17 18. Justin Walters, NC State 70.19 19. David Inglis, Tulsa 70.19 20. Michael Letzig, New Mexico 70.27 41. Gregg Jones, Clemson 71.03

Clemson 2003 Team National Rankings According to Golfstat

•1st in overall scoring average (72.32)•1st in final round scoring average (71.83)•1st in scoring average vs. par (0.33)•1st in par four scoring average (4.07)•1st in subpar strokes/round (3.65)•1st in fewest bogeys/round (3.00)•1st in fewest double bogeys/round (0.36)•2nd in first round scoring average (72.69)•2nd in par five scoring average (4.72)•3rd in birdies (661)•4th in total eagles (25)•19th in pars/round (11.04)

Clemson in Golfstat Rankings (Top 50)

D.J. Trahan•First in total eagles (10)•2nd in final round scoring average (69.85)•2nd in scoring average vs. par (-0.90)•3rd in par four scoring average (3.99)•4th in subpar strokes/round (4.26)•7th in overall scoring average (71.05)•13th in birdies (146)•19th in fewest bogeys/round (2.62)•24th in fewest double bogeys/round (0.26)•44th in par 5 scoring average (4.82)

Jack Ferguson•6th in fewest double bogeys/round (0.18)•7th in par four scoring average (4.01)•10th in subpar strokes/round (3.97)•11th in scoring average vs. par (-0.54)•12th in birdies (147)•16th in final round scoring average (71.08)•14th in overall scoring average (71.41)•27th in par 5 scoring average (4.68)

Matt Hendrix•First in first round scoring average (70.69)•6th in subpar strokes/round (4.05)•7th in birdies (150)•13th in par four scoring average (4.03)•13th in fewest bogeys/round (2.56)•20th in scoring average compared to par (-0.21)•28th in overall scoring average (71.74)•50th in last round scoring average (71.77)

Gregg Jones•1st in pars/round (12.23)•41st in fewest double bogeys/round (0.28)

Ben Duncan•49th in par 5 scoring average (4.70)

eron. But, as had been his demeanor all week, Fergu-son hit his approach just 15 feet by the hole. When he eventually two-putted for a par five to give Clemson the victory it gave the Tigers a landmark national championship victory, its first on an opponent’s home facility. “It was a great feeling,” said Penley, who had led Clemson to six top four finishes previously, but never with a championship on his resume until 2003. “Any championship is special, but to win it at Oklahoma State made it more special because they have been the program that has had the most NCAA appearances, the most national championships, the most tradition. We have great respect for their program, so to win on their home course was memorable.” Clemson had become the first golf program in history to win its conference, NCAA regional and NCAA national tournament in the same year, an ac-complishment that puts the resume of the 2003 Tiger

golf team in perspective on a college golf history and Clemson athletic history basis. “This was a total team effort. You knew going into the season that D.J. Trahan would be there every tournament. A key was the improvement of Jack Ferguson and Matt Hendrix over the previous year. They’re stroke average improvement was among the top 10 in Clemson history from one season to the next. Gregg Jones was steady, especially in postseason play. Ben Duncan had a great NCAA Tournament. His score counted in each of the last three rounds when it meant the most. “We did not have an individual finish in the top 15 of the NCAA Tournament, yet we won the national championship. That shows you how solid we were as a team.”

Clemson was honored at the White House by President George W. Bush after winning the 2003 National Championship.