Bridgeman, Clemson repeat as Palmetto Intercollegiate champions; Temple finishes ninth

    With Jacob Bridgeman, a talented junior from Inman, S.C., leading the way, Clemson, No. 9 in the latest Golfstat rankings, captured the team title in The Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate, which wrapped up Tuesday at Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, S.C., making for successful title defenses both individually for Bridgeman and for the Tigers as a team.

   It was the 60^th career tournament title for Clemson’s legendary head coach Larry Penley, who announced earlier this year that this season, his 38^th at the helm for the Tigers, will be his last. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I’m pretty sure this Clemson team is going to be extra motivated to send its beloved head coach out on top this spring.

   Clemson, of course, plays out of the tough Atlantic Coast Conference and at No. 9 – the newest rankings came out while I was putting this post together, the Tigers had been No. 7 -- it is just the fourth highest-ranked team in the conference behind No. 1 Florida State, No. 3 Wake Forest and No. 8 North Carolina.

   With Bridgeman and William Nottingham, a fifth-year senior from Kingsport, Tenn., coming out of the gate firing, each posting a sparkling 6-under-par 64 over the 6,617-yard, par-70 Palmetto layout, the Tigers put up a sizzling 12-under 268 in the first round of Monday’s double round.

   Clemson added an 8-under 272 in Monday afternoon’s second round and led No. 48 North Carolina-Wilmington by four shots going into Tuesday’s final round. The Tigers closed with a 1-over 281 to finish with a 19-under 821 total. UNCW opened with a 3-under 277 and actually did Clemson one better in recording the best team round of the tournament, a 13-under 267, in Monday afternoon’s second round to pull within four shots of the Tigers. The Seahawks closed with a 4-over 284 to earn runnerup honors, seven shots behind Clemson with a solid 12-under 828 total.

   UNCW was the winner of the last contested Colonial Athletic Association Championship in the spring of 2019 at the Pinehurst Resort’s No. 8 Course.

   South Carolina Aiken, a Division II power, was another three shots behind UNCW in third place with a 9-under 831 total. The Pacers opened with a 1-over 281 and added a solid 9-under 271 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 1-under 279.

   Furman ended up two shots behind South Carolina Aiken in fourth place as the 92^nd-ranked Paladins opened with a 3-under 277 and added a 9-under 271 in Monday afternoon’s second round that left them just eight shots behind Clemson and four behind UNCW heading into Tuesday’s final round. Furman cooled off a little with a final-round 285 that left it with a 7-under 833 total.

   Virginia Commonwealth, the winner of the last contested Atlantic 10 Championship in the spring of 2019 at Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Fla., landed in fifth place at even-par 840, seven shots behind Furman. VCU, ranked 100^th, opened with a 1-over 281 and added a solid 6-under 274 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 5-over 285.

   The College of Charleston, another CAA entry and ranked 86^th, finished in sixth place, eight shots behind VCU at 8-over 848. The Cougars struggled in the opening round with a 7-over 287 before rebounding with a 4-under 276 in Monday afternoon’s second round and closing with a 285.

   It was a decent showing for Brian Quinn’s Temple Owls as they finished alone in ninth place with a 36-over 876 total. Temple had opened its season a couple of weeks ago when it finished last of 16 teams in the Pinnacle Bank Intercollegiate at the Palmetto Hall Golf & Country Club’s Arthur Hills Course on Hilton Head Island, S.C.

   Temple’s wraparound 2019-2020 season ended, like it did for all of college golf, with the coronavirus pandemic shutting it down just about this time last year. The Owls were still unable to compete in the fall and the weather conditions in January and February in our area didn’t even offer an occasional chance to get out on the golf course. Most of the swings by the Owls before they arrived at Hilton Head a couple of weeks ago no doubt occurred in an indoor golf simulator.

   With junior Conor McGrath, an Academy of the New Church product and a Huntingdon Valley Country Club guy, leading the way, Temple struggled to an opening-round 295, shaved 11 shots off that with a 4-over 284 in Monday afternoon’s second round, and finished up with a 297.

   McGrath opened with a 2-over 72 and contributed a 2-under 68 to the Owls’ solid second-round total Monday afternoon before closing with a 4-over 74 that left him among the group tied for 24^th place at 4-over 214. More on the Temple lineup later.

   Clemson’s Bridgeman kept his foot on the gas following his opening-round 64, adding a 3-under 67 in Monday afternoon’s second round before finishing up with a 2-under 68 for an 11-under 199 that gave him the individual title for the second straight year by two shots.

   Backing up Bridgeman for the Tigers was Kyle Cottam, a senior from Knoxville, Tenn. who finished in a tie for 10^th place at 2-under 208. Cottam followed up an opening-round 69 with a 2-under 68 before closing with a 1-over 71 in Tuesday’s final round.

   Nottingham, who took up the NCAA on its offer of an extra year of eligibility after the spring of his senior season was a victim of the pandemic, cooled off a little after his opening-round 64 by matching par in Monday afternoon’s second with a 70. He still was only four shots behind Bridgeman in the individual chase, but Nottingham finished up with a 75 to finish alone in 12^th place at 1-under 209.

   Colby Patton, a senior from Fountain Inn, S.C., gave Clemson four players inside the top 20 as he landed among the group tied for 20^th place at 3-over 213. Patton struggled in the opening round with a 77, but finished strong, carding a 1-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round and closing with a 3-under 67 that made him low Tiger for Tuesday’s final round.

   Patton is the son of Chris Patton, the Clemson All-America who put himself in the elite company of winners of USGA champions at Merion Golf Club’s historic East Course when he won the 1989 U.S. Amateur at the Hugh Wilson classic in the Ardmore section of Haverford Township. A list that includes Jones, Hogan, Trevino and Rose is always a good one to be on.

   Rounding out the Clemson lineup was Zack Gordon, a junior from Gaffney, S.C. who finished in a tie for 26^th place at 5-over 215. Gordon’s opening-round 71 and his 2-under 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round were both counters for the Tigers. He closed with a 76.

   Furman’s Keller Harper, a senior from Atlanta, was never far behind Bridgeman. After opening with a 68, Harper fired a sparkling 5-under 65 in Monday afternoon’s second round that left him just two shots behind Bridgeman heading into Tuesday’s final round. Another 2-under 68 in the final round gave Harper a solid runnerup showing with a 9-under 201 total.

   UNCW’s Christofer Rahm, a senior from Sweden, was three shots behind Harper in third place as he put together three rounds in the 60s, adding a 68 to his opening-round 69 and closing with a 3-under 67, for a 6-under 204 total.

   Rahm’s UNCW teammate, Blake McShea, a graduate student from Zebulon, N.C., and South Carolina Aiken’s Bjorn Rosengren, a junior from Sweden, finished in a tie for fourth place, each landing on 5-under 205, a shot behind Rahm.

   McShea fired a pair of 3-under 67s in Monday’s double round before finishing up with a 71. Rosengren sandwiched a sparkling 5-under 65 in Monday afternoon’s second round with a pair of even-par 70s.

   Rosengran’s South Carolina Aiken teammate, George Eubank, a senior from Spartanburg, S.C., was joined in a tie for sixth place at 3-under 207 by College of Charleston’s Zach Rueland, a freshman from Rock Hill, S.C., VCU’s Peter Gasperini, a senior from South Boston, Va., and Furman’s Reynolds Lambert, a sophomore from Mountain Brook, Ala.

   Eubank and Gasperini had identical splits, matching par in the opening round with a 70 and adding a 2-under 68 before closing with a 69. Rueland opened with a 72, but finished strong, adding a 68 in Monday afternoon’s second round before closing with a 3-under 67. Lambert was just a shot behind Bridgeman going into Tuesday’s final round as he added a sparkling 5-under 65 to his opening-round 67 before falling back with a final-round 75.

   Joining Clemson’s Cottam in the tie for 10^th place at 2-under 208 was Furman’s Jack Conby, a junior from Memphis, Tenn. who added a 2-under 68 to his opening-round 71 before finishing up with a 69.

   Temple finished in a program-best fifth place in the last American Championship contested in the spring of 2019 at Innisbrook Resort’s Copperhead Course in Palm Harbor, Fla., but this is a completely different team. McGrath was the only player in the lineup at the Palmetto who made the trip to Innisbrook two springs ago.

   Backing up McGrath at the Palmetto was Graham Chase, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C. who closed with a 2-over 72 to finish among the group tied for 43^rd place at 11-over 221. Chase opened with a solid 1-over 71, but struggled a little in Monday afternoon’s second round with a 78.

   Senior Dawson Anders, a former Souderton standout, was having a nice junior season when it was cut short by the pandemic. The 2017 Golf Association of Philadelphia’s Junior Boys’ champion bounced back from an opening-round 78 with a 1-under 69 in Monday afternoon’s second round. Anders finished up with a 76 to land in the group tied for 49^th place at 223.

   I was unaware that Friends’ Central product and Merion Golf Club guy Peter Bradbeer had decided to take his extra year of eligibility at Temple after a solid four-year career at Bucknell when I chronicled his tie for sixth place in the Men’s Dixie Amateur the week before Christmas at Eagle Track Golf Club’s Gold Course in Coral Springs, Fla.

   The winner of a GAP major championship in the 2017 Patterson Cup at Wilmington Country Club’s South Course, Bradbeer added a 3-over 73 to his opening-round 74 at the Palmetto before closing with a 77 that left him among the group tied for 52^nd place at 224. Bradbeer brings a solid veteran presence to the Temple lineup.

   Rounding out the Temple lineup was junior Buddy Hansen, a former La Salle High School standout and a Blue Bell Country Club guy who finished alone in 68^th place at 228. Hansen struggled to a 79 in the opening round before adding a 4-over 74 in Monday afternoon’s second round and finishing up with a 75.