Dannelly fires 67 in Clemson debut; Tigers trail Alabama by 3 shots

Junior David Dannelly made his Clemson golf debut in spectacular fashion, as he fired a five-under par 67 and led the Tigers to a second-place showing behind Alabama in the opening round of the Carpet Capital Collegiate at The Farm in Rocky Face, GA, on Friday.

Dannelly, a transfer from Coastal Carolina, who reached the match-play stage of the United States Amateur two weeks ago, made nine birdies and four bogeys en route to his opening 67.

As a team, 17th-ranked Clemson finished the first round at five-under (283) and had an early edge over No. 18 Auburn and No. 10 Georgia Tech. Fifteenth-ranked Alabama, which finished later in the day, posted an eight-under par 280 for a three-shot edge over the Tigers.

Auburn finished the first round at 285 – two shots behind Clemson and two ahead of Georgia Tech. Fourth-ranked Georgia stood fifth with an even-par score.

Junior McCuen Elmore chipped in with a two-under 70, Jacob Burger finished with an even-par 72, and Crawford Reeves played the opening round in two-over. The Tigers tossed out Alex Boyd's five-over 77.

The Tigers went off in an early-morning group that included Georgia Tech and South Carolina. The Yellow Jackets finished their first round at one-under, while the Gamecocks came in at 10-over par after throwing out a 13-over par 85 by their No. 1 player, Wesley Bryan.

Dannelly opened his career as a Tiger with birdies on three of his first four holes. He gave two shots back mid-way through his opening nine before finishing the front side with birdies at No. 7 and No. 9.

On the back side, he birdied the 10th, 14th, 15th and 17th holes to go six-under, but then bogeyed the 18th, a 417-yard par-four with its green cut sharply into the side of a hill.

Boyd, who earned his spot in the Tigers' lineup by beating Corbin Mills in an 18-hole qualifying playoff, got off to a strong start with a birdie on the 601-yard par-five second hole, but then endured a string of four consecutive bogeys, and five in seven holes, to make the turn with a four-over par 40. He got a stroke back by birdying the par-three 13th, but then bogeyed No. 14 and No. 18 to come in at five-over.

Reeves double-bogeyed two of his first five holes, sandwiched around a birdie on the par four fourth, but then birdied the par-three eighth and turned at two-over. He then played the back nine in even-par, with two birdies and two bogeys.

Elmore, who was a runaway winner in the team's fall qualifying competition, posted a two-under par 70. He bogeyed the par-four seventh hole, but then played the back nine in three-under, with birdies at No. 12 (a 498-yard par-five), No. 15 (another reachable par-five) and No. 16 (a 367-yard par-four).

Burger fired an even-par 72 in his opening round. He bogeyed the par-three fifth hole and turned at one-over, but then got back to even with a birdie on the 388-yard par-four 10th hole. He then went bogey-birdie on No. 14 and 15.