Clemson wins The Hayt, head coach Larry Penley draws closer to college victory record

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Larry Penley drew closer to Jesse Haddock’s all-time coaching record for men’s college tournament titles.

Penley’s Clemson Tigers made it 81 victories for their outgoing coach on Monday by winning The Hayt at Sawgrass Country Club, pulling away from host University of North Florida to tie the tournament record at 19-under-par 845.

The Tigers got all four of their scoring players among the top-10, led by Kyle Cottam (67) in second place at 8-under-par 208, two shots behind individual winner Nick Gabrelcik (69) of UNF.

Turk Pettit (71) tied for third with Florida State’s John Pak (71) at 7 under, Colby Patton (69) finished sixth at 4 under and Jacob Bridgeman (69) tied for 10th at even par.

Clemson’s 12-under 276 in the final round tied another tournament record previously matched in 2001 by Augusta University and in 2013 by UNF.

Clemson has won two of its last three starts. Penley is one behind Haddock for the all-time record of 82, and he will have at most, four more events: the Shoal Creek Invitational, April 5-7 in Birmingham, Alabama; the ACC Championship, April 22-26 in Atlanta; an NCAA regional May 17-19; and if the Tigers qualify, the NCAA Championship, May 29-June 3 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

“We’re just trying to go out there and play as good as we can and get a couple of wins for coach [Penley] so he can go out on top,” Cottam said. “Our goal is to do a little better each tournament and be ready to peak when the ACC and the NCAA comes up, and we’ll be at our best.”

Clemson won The Hayt, named for John Hayt, the UNF program’s long-time benefactor, in its fourth-ever start in the tournament. The Tigers finished second in 2003, tied for fourth in 2004 and finished sixth in 2019.

Clemson senior Turk Pettit hitting his tee shot at No. 17 at Sawgrass Country Club at the Hayt. (Photo: Florida Times-Union)

“This is one of my favorite courses and I know it’s one of my players’ favorites,” said Penley, who has been at Clemson for 38 years. “It’s special to win on this course and even more special to have Mr. [John] Hayt’s name on the trophy.”

Clemson pulled away from UNF on the middle holes. The four players who scored played Nos. 7 through 14 at 8-under, with one bogey. UNF played the same stretch of holes at 8-over.

Penley’s team began the day one shot behind the Ospreys and when the final group was through five holes, the two teams were tied.

Cottam led the charge with four birdies in six holes from Nos. 7-12.

If his team couldn’t win the tournament, Schroeder was happy that Penley’s team did.

“Larry is a first-class guy with a really good team this year,” Schroeder said. “They’re a veteran team [Penley started three seniors and a junior] and Sawgrass usually identifies a really good team. Right now, they’re better than us.”

“I really didn’t anticipate being able to pull away like that,” Penley said. “I thought it was going to be a real dogfight and for a while, it was.”

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Gabrelcik won his second tournament title as a freshman, shaking off a triple-bogey at No. 13 after he hit his second shot out of bounds, and a bogey at No. 16 when he inexplicably hit driver off the tee of the downwind 380-yard hole, which has a fairway sloping down towards a water hazard in front of the green.

Gabrelcik said he was trying to hit a “chip-driver” at No. 16. He dropped, hit his third shot over the green, then pitched back on and made a 3-foot putt for bogey and dropped into a tie with Cottam.

“I was feeling confident. … the water was not really on my mind,” Gabrelcik said. “As soon as I saw the ball, I deeply regretted it.”

But Gabrelcik, who had a four-shot lead through 12, hit his next two fairways to set up his winning birdies, on a 4-foot putt at No. 17 and a two-putt from 40 feet at the par-5 closing hole.

Cottam had a chance at No. 18 but three-putted off the front fringe from 40 feet away for par.

“He’s a kid who’s going to keep fighting,” Schroeder said about Gabrelcik. “He hit the wrong club off the tee at No. 16 but after the triple, he didn’t mishit a golf shot. That shows you what he has inside of him.”