April 3, 2016
Salem, S.C. – Vincent Whaley shot a 71 Sunday to close out his second career collegiate victory, while Georgia Tech finished in a tie for second place at the Clemson Invitational, which was contested at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls.
TECH LINEUP — Whaley, a junior from McKinney, Texas, who began the day with a two-shot advantage, maintained the lead throughout, opening with birdies on two of his first three holes and playing the back nine in 1-under-par. Sophomore James Clark (Columbus, Ga.) went 4-under-par on the back nine and also shot 71 for the Jackets to earn the second top-10 finish of his career (T7).
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In windy conditions on the final day at The Cliffs, Tech also counted a 75 from Chris Petefish (Danville, Calif.) and an 80 from Jacob Joiner (Leesburg, Ga.) and threw out an 82 from Michael Hines (Acworth, Ga.), who tied for 27th place individually.
Freshman Tyler Joiner (Leesburg, Ga.) shot a 76 to tie for 23rd place, and Michael Pisciotta (Alpharetta, Ga.) shot 80, both competing as individuals.
TEAM LEADERBOARD — Clemson, the nation’s 11th-ranked team, also struggled in the windy conditions and shot 295 (+7) Sunday and finished 54 holes at 861 (-3). The Tigers were the only team to complete the tournament under par and finished 11 shots ahead of No. 47 Tech (297 Sunday) and Louisville (293 Sunday), who both posted tournament scores of 872 (+8).
Winthrop (884, +20) finished fourth, followed by No. 41 Michigan State (887, +23) and Furman (888, +24). Elon (+33), Notre Dame (+35), UNC Wilmington (+38), Boston College (+57), UNC Greensboro (+63) and Navy (+89) rounded out the field.
INDIVIDUAL LEADERBOARD — Whaley posted a 54-hole total of 208 (-8) to finish two shots ahead of Louisville’s Robin Sciot-Siegrist (210, -6). Both players shot 71 Sunday.
It was the second career in for the Tech junior, following up his co-medalist performance at last spring’s Robert Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus, Ohio, and his third top-5 finish this year.
A trio of Clemson players — Carson Young, Stephen Behr and Austin Langdale — along with Sam Weatherhead of Michigan State, tied for third place at 1-under-par 215. Clark tied for seventh with Winthrop’s Sawyer Mills, recording his first top-10 finish since last spring’s Seminole Intercollegiate.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION — The first Clemson Invitational is a 54-hole played at The Cliffs at Keowee Falls, a 7,103-yard, par 72 layout in Salem, S.C. The 12-team field included four ACC teams in 11th-ranked Clemson, the host institution, Boston College, Louisville and Notre Dame, as well as Elon, Furman, Michigan State, Navy, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington and Winthrop.
