Lowcountry native Bryson Nimmer adds to record season for Clemson golf
Bryson Nimmer birdied four of his last five holes to finish with an eight-under-par 64 on Sunday and won medalist honors at the fourth annual Clemson Invitational at the Cliffs at Keowee Falls Course in Sunset, S.C.
Nimmer won the individual championship with a 54-hole score of 199, 17-under par. The performance set the school record for total under-par in a 54-hole event. Nimmer shot 15-under-par earlier this year in winning the Maui Jim Intercollegiate. D.J. Trahan and Doc Redman also had 15-under par scores during 54-hole events previously.
Nimmer also set a Clemson season record for victories. This was his fourth individual win of the year, two in the fall and two in the spring.
“Bryson was really zeroed in coming down the stretch,” Clemson coach Larry Penley said. “He was great off the tee and with his ball striking. He birdied four of the last five holes and didn’t have a putt over eight feet in any of those holes. He actually missed a short putt on 17 for birdie.”
Nimmer made a career high 20 birdies and had just three bogeys over the 54 holes in gaining the victory. He defeated Adrien Pendaries of Duke by a shot and Luke Schniederjans of Georgia Tech by three shots. Schniederjans shot a Clemson Invitational record 62 on Saturday and had a four-shot lead over Nimmer entering the final round. But the Georgia Tech All-ACC performer shot a 71 in the final round.
Georgia Tech took home team honors with a record-setting score of 812, 52-under par. Duke was second with an 823 total, 41-under par. Georgia finished third at 830 and Clemson was fourth at 836. All four teams were ranked in the top 20 in the nation entering the tournament.
Scores were low throughout the tournament as the 15-teams played in a “lift, clean and place,” format due to heavy rains on the course the night before the tournament began.
In addition to Schniederjans, Georgia Tech was led by Tyler Strafaci, Andy Ogletree and Noah Norton. The Yellow Jackets had four of the top six finishers in the tournament. Ogletree shot a tournament record 28 on the back nine on Sunday on the way to a 64 and a 54-hole score of 205.
Clemson had two other players finish in the top 20 in the 81-player field. Freshman Jacob Bridgeman had a final round 73 after rounds of 69-66 to finish in a tie for 14th place at 208, while Colby Patton had his best tournament of the year with a three-round total of 211, five-under-par, good enough for 19th. His second round 67 was his best of the year.