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Overview: Starter in the Clemson lineup as a freshman...had a 74.42 stroke average as a freshman, one of the top 15 freshman averages in school history...recorded a pair of top 10s to finish tied for second on the Clemson team in that category...played in eight of the 10 tournaments, tied for third most on the team... one of the biggest hitters in the ACC...plays an aggressive style of golf... already has experience playing on a PGA Tour event, he played in the Bay Hill Invitational in March of 2006... reached number-one junior ranking in June of 2006 after winning the FCWT National Championship in late May....Clemson's top golfer in terms of stroke average in the fall of 2007...had outstanding fall in the classroom, he made the academic honor roll and had the top GPA on the team...second straight semester he has been on the academic honor roll...played in five major amateur events in the summer of 2007, including the United States Amateur.
Fall 2007: Led Clemson in stroke average with a 72.55 figure...interesting stat considering he was never Clemson's low man in any of the three events, but was second twice and fourth once, so he showed consistency...played in three of the four events, he did not go to Japan...had four under-par rounds to lead the team and five rounds at par or better...finished at 214 in each of the last two tournaments, he had a 214 at the Brickyard and 214 at Isleworth...his top finish was at Isleworth where he finished 10th, helping the Tigers to a second place team finish...had best round at The Brickyard when he shot a 68...played with consistency at Isleworth where he had rounds of 71-72-71.
Summer 2007: Had a solid summer, he competed in five major amateur events, including the United States Amateur...had three top 15 finishes, including a top 10 at The Cardinal...started summer with 14th place at the Sunnehanna, where he shot a 284...also had a 284 at the Monroe and finished 15th...his performance included a final round 65 that was the top round of the day...finished 22nd at the Southern Amateur in July with a 285...had the first round lead after a summer low 63...finished ninth at the Cardinal with a 214, including an opening round 68...advanced to stroke play of the US Amateur, but did not make it to match play after rounds of 74-77.
In 2006-07: Got season off to a great start with top10 finish in his very first tournament...finished 10th at Isleworth with a 221 score, five over par...had consistent rounds of 74-72-75... first Clemson first-year freshman to record a top 10 finish in his first career event since D.J. Trahan finished sixth at the Ping Preview in the fall of 1999... one of just 12 players in the 90-player field to score at 75 or better all three days on the par 72 Isleworth Country Club Course ...had 10 birdies in the event to lead the Clemson team and he played the par five holes at six-under-par, tied for second best in the field... got off to a great start with a 10th place at Isleworth, a course with which he is very familiar, as it is close to his home...his grandfather, Arnold Palmer, followed him during that tournament and saw him chip in the first hole he saw him play in college... then finished 14th at the Aloha Classic with three straight rounds at 72 or better...started the spring strong with eighth place, his career best, at Puerto Rico Classic...had season best 69 in opening round, followed by a 70 in the second rounds...finished at 212, four under par, his only under par tournament of the year...other top 20 finish in the spring was at the ACC Tournament where he was 19th with a 218 score...he helped Clemson to a third place team finish at The Old North State Club...his second round including chipping in from 35 yards away down a hill on a par three hole on the backside...also competed for the Tigers in the NCAA East Regional...had a 75 in the final round for his best outing on the Golf Club of Georgia course...a long hitter, he was second on the team in par five scoring wit h a 4.89 average...also second on the team in putting with 29.75 putts/round...third on the team in total birdies with 72...his 74.42 stroke average was fourth best on the team, but just .26 strokes per round out of third... ranked in the top 50 in the nation after the fall season according to the Sagarin/Golfweek rankings with a 49th place standing....had 72.67 stroke average for his six rounds in the fall, third best on the team...each of his first 10 rounds were at 75 or better and he finished with 16 of 24 at 75 or better...also played for the Tigers at the Callaway Collegiate Match Play, he had an 0-1-2 record...halved Zach Bixler of Washington and Michael Quagliano of Duke during the competition... his only loss was to All-American Trent Leon of defending NCAA Champion Oklahoma State....his score counted towards Clemson's team score in 20 of his 24 rounds, including 12 in a row entering the NCAA Tournament....named to the academic honor roll for the Spring semester of 2007.
Prior to Clemson: Won the Florida High School State championship as a junior in the fall of 2004...had rounds of 68-68 at PGA Village's north course to win by five shots...State Player of the Year for 2004-05 academic year...finished in the final four of the state championship all four years of his high school career, he was second as a sophomore and senior and fourth as a freshman...four-time first-team all-state at Trinity Prep in Winter Park, FL where he played for coach Dave Ballard...three-time regional champion, he was victorious as a freshman, junior and senior...team MVP for four years...played on district championship team all four years, and on regional championship team three times....ranked number-one in the nation in Golfweek's junior rankings on June 4, 2006 after he captured the FCWT National Championship at PGA National's Champions Course in Florida...shot a final round 65 to win by three shots....medallist after stoke play by three strokes at the 2005 National Junior Amateur after shooting a seven-under-par 133 for the 36 holes at Longmeadow Country Club in Massachusetts...had a hole-in-one on the fourth hole in the first round, then shot 65 thanks to six birdies within the first 12 holes in the second round...advanced to the final 16 of the tournament before losing to Kevin Tway in the third round...two-time Men's club champion at Bay Hill Club and Lodge, including 2002 when he was just 15-years-old...also won the club championship at Bay Hill in 2006 by an astounding 17 shots...local medallist for the 2004 US Amateur, he played in the stroke play portion of the event at Winged Foot...winner of many national junior events, including the Sawgrass Invitational in 2005..AJGA honorable mention All-American in 2003.
Personal: Son of Amy and Roy Saunders...Roy was a walk-on kicker on the University of Florida football team...his sister Katie, is a Clemson graduate, and his sister Annie will be a junior at Clemson majoring in architecture in 2007-08...grandson of four-time Master's champion Arnold Palmer, the 1954 ACC Golf Champion....appeared in a program with his grandfather on The Golf Channel in 2005 and played together in the national Father-Son tournament in 2005 and 2006...majoring in sociology...born July 30, 1987 in Orlando, FL.
Saunders Personality Profile
Favorite Current Professional Golfer: Tiger Woods
Favorite Athlete Outside of golf: Michael Jordan
Favorite Clemson Golfer of All-Time: Chris Patton
Favorite Course I have Played: Augusta National
Favorite Golf Hole: #6 at Bay Hill
Toughest Course I have Played: Oakmont
Best Shot Ever: Once chipped in on last hole to win a tournament
Best Part of My Game: Irons
Part of Game I must Improve: Putting
My Favorite Club: Driver
Biggest influence on my golf career: My grandfather and my dad
After My Golf Career is Over I Want to: Design Golf Courses
My Dream Foursome: Bobby Jones, Tigers Woods, Ben Hogan and myself
Sam Saunders All-Time Hole in One Shots |
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Year |
Course | City | Club |
Distance |
2002 |
Wedgefield | Orlando, FL | 9 |
155 |
2004 |
Bay Hill | Orlando, FL | 4 |
220 |
2005 |
Long Meadow | Long Meadow, MA | P-Wedge |
132 |
2006 |
Bay Hill | Orlando, FL | 5 |
225 |
Sam Saunders Tournament-by-Tournament, 2006-07 |
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| Date | Tournament | 1-2-3 |
Par |
Tot |
Fin |
| 10/22-24 | Isleworth | 74-72-75 |
+5 |
221 |
10 |
| 11/22-23 | Aloha Classic | 72-72-71 |
+5 |
215 |
14 |
| 2/25-27 | Puerto Rico | 69-70-73 |
-4 |
212 |
8 |
| 3/9-11 | Las Vegas | 74-76-77 |
+11 |
227 |
39 |
| 3/30-4/1 | Augusta State | 78-80-72 |
+14 |
230 |
84 |
| 4/9-11 | US Collegiate | 71-78-81 |
+14 |
230 |
48 |
| 4/20-22 | ACC Tournament | 73-73-72 |
+2 |
218 |
19 |
| 5/17-19 | NCAA East | 79-79-75 |
+17 |
233 |
103 |
Sam Saunders Tournament-by-Tournament, 2007-08 |
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| Date | Tournament | 1-2-3 |
Par |
Tot |
Fin |
| 9/14-16 | Carpet Classic | 73-74-78 |
+9 |
225 |
48 |
| 10/7-9 | Brickyard | 71-68-75 |
-2 |
214 |
14 |
| 10/21-23 | Isleworth | 71-72-71 |
-2 |
214 |
10 |
Sam Saunders Career Stats |
|||||||||||
| Year | Tr |
Rds |
Stks |
60s |
-75 |
Par |
-Par |
Avg |
Top 10 |
BR |
BT |
| 2006-07 | 8 |
24 |
1786 |
1 |
16 |
3 |
3 |
74.42 |
2 |
69 |
212 |
