Billy Kennerly Billy Kennerly
5-11 •165 • Fr. Alpharetta, GA
Overview: First-year freshman from Alpharetta, GA who was ranked in the top five among AGJA players as he entered Clemson…first-team AJGA All-American in 2011… already had a PGA Tournament under his belt before he enrolled, as he played in the 2011 Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro August 18-19…..missed the cut, but had a solid 141 total on rounds of 70-71…qualified for that tournament by winning the FJ Invitational at Sedgefield, a national AJGA Tournament….played in all four fall events for the Tigers and made a big contribution as his score counted 10 of 12 rounds. Fall 2011: Talented freshman who played in all four tournaments in the fall…had signs of brilliance with second round 70 at the Carpet Classic, second round 70 at Jerry Pate and second round 69 at Bank of Tennessee…had five rounds of par or better in the fall and four of the five were in the second round…started career with 226 score at Carpet Classic…then helped Tigers to second place at Jerry Pate with a 220 score, including a final round score of 69…that was his first career top 25…then bettered that with 220 score and 15th place finish at Bank of Tennessee at the Ridges…that was his best finish of the fall and he was the top performer among Clemson golfers for the tournament…first freshman to be Clemson’s top finisher at a 54-hole event since Kyle Stanley in 2006-07… third among Tigers at US Collegiate in final event of the fall, he shot a 218 total, just twoover-par…his score counted in 10 of 12 rounds, pretty solid for a freshman in his first fall of competition…had best score of the day twice…had 32 birdies to finish third for the fall competition among Tigers…tied for best average on par five holes with a 4.76…that is surprising since he is not a long hitter, but is excellent around the greens. Summer 2011: Played in a number of junior tournaments before coming to Clemson… he also played in the Palmetto Amateur and finished fifth with a 276 score, good enough for four-under-par…he had three rounds in the 60s, including a sterling 66 in the third round…also had rounds of 69 in each of the first two events…won the FJ Invitational AJGA event in July with a score of 269, 11-under-par…that tied the tournament record and he won by four shots…had a 63 during that tournament…had the lead after each of the four rounds in the tournament that included 99 players from 23 states and 10 foreign countries…named the National Junior Player of the Week by Golfweek for that performance that got him an invitation to the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship. Before Clemson: An honorable mention AJGA All-American in 2009 and 2010, he was be a first-team selection in 2011…comes to Clemson from Mount Pisgah Christian School in Alpharetta, GA where he played for Bryan Smyth…ranked in the top 15 in the nation by Polo’s list of 2011 signees…posted a 2-1-1 record for the East Team in the 2009 Cannon cup…has 15 career top 10 finishes in AJGA Tournaments…finished second at Exide Technologies Junior Open, the Mountain Top Collegiate Invitational and the Accusport Championship. Personal: Born September 5, 1992 in Seattle, WA…majoring in pre-business at Clemson.
Getting to Know Billy Kennerly Favorite Current Professional Golfer: Luke Donald Favorite Athlete outside of golf: Roger Federer Favorite Clemson golfer of all-time: Lucas Glover Favorite course I have played: Sage Valley Favorite Course I would like to play: Augusta National My Best Shot Ever: Double eagle on a par five when I was 12. My best all-time round: 63 at Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro, NC The Best Part of my game is: Short game My favorite club: Putter The part of the game I must improve is: Wedge play The Biggest influence on my golf career has been: My father Favorite Hobby: Fishing My dream foursome includes myself and: My father, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer
Tournament by Tournament, Fall 2011 Date 9/9-11 10/3-4 10/14-16 10/23-25
22
Tournament 1-2-3 Carpet Classic 76-70-80 Jerry Pate 72-79-69 Bank of Tenn. 77-69-74 US Collegiate 74-72-72
2011-12 Clemson Golf
Par +10 +10 +4 +2
Tot Fin 226 47 220 24 220 15 218 22