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How Clemson won back-to-back National Championships

By Kris Hart

On November 16-17th at the NCCGA Fall 2019 National Championship, Clemson University won for the 2nd straight semester setting an all-time Nationals team record score of (733). The Tigers are the third team in NCCGA history to win back-to-back Championships. After the tournament I spent a few minutes with the team to understand why their squad has been so successful. If you are an NCCGA Club team looking to take things to the next level, maybe you can steal the Tigers secret recipe.

1) Have great leaders - Although Spencer Roberts is the club president, he said Reid Smith and William Sullivan are the oldest and are the fearless leaders on the team. Both students are graduating this winter, but have been integral to leading the team and setting good habits for the squad. Their leadership will be missed in 2020.

2) Have a hype video - It was funny to learn that the Tigers were inspired by this bowling hype video. Does your club golf team have a hype video?

3) Lose before winning - The team told me the WinStar World Casino was a great place, but they were not lucky on the tables. Winning the tournament made up for any gambling losses. One piece of advice was to never split 10s!

4) Get a team song - In a very literal translation, Drake’s song “Back To Back” was the team song for the trip. I guess hearing back to back and thinking about that song during the round kept the team thinking about winning back-to-back championships.

5) Eat well - The Clemson boys stopped at In-N-Out Burger right when they landed at the Dallas Airport. The team told staffers at the famous burger joint that they would be back before their flight home, but be eating with the trophy next time. The team honored their word and ate well during their trip. Sometimes a good burger is the best medicine to put you in a good mood and play good golf.

Congratulations again to the Tigers on winning the National Championship. For the full results and more information on the Fall 2019 Nationals, visit the championship page.

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