Stephen Behr hitting his marks on, off golf course for Clemson

Compare the golf statistics compiled by Stephen Behr Jr. in his four seasons at Clemson with the college numbers posted by Tigers’ legend Jonathan Byrd, and the similarities are startling.

Behr leads by .02 in career scoring, Byrd by a whisker in best season average. Their top rounds and tournaments at Clemson fall within one stroke of the other.

What, then, could be more logical than to assume their post-collegiate performances would continue to mirror each other? Isn’t it reasonable to predict Behr, finishing his Clemson days this month in the NCAA championships, could expect to come close to matching Byrd’s five PGA Tour victories and more than $18 million in earnings?

Logical and reasonable, perhaps, but the comparison ends the moment Behr sinks his final putt, whether in the regional in Stillwater, Okla., or in the nationals in Eugene, Ore. Rather than diving into the shark tank of professional golf, Behr plans on a business career – a decision, all those involved agree, makes all the sense in the world.

“He’s a special young man; that’s as simple a way and the best way as I can describe him,” Tigers Hall of Fame coach Larry Penley said. “He’s always had a plan and does everything the right way, whether on or off the course.”

Behr’s golf credentials sparkle. He has averaged 71.81 strokes in his nine tournaments with four top-10s and seven rounds in the 60s. He’s ranked No. 28 among the nation’s college players this year. But his numbers in the classroom are more spectacular. He graduated in May of 2015 with a 3.91 grade average in Clemson’s school of finance, and added a string of “A” grades as a graduate student this year.

“Playing professionally has never been motivation for me,” Behr, 23, said. “To me, pro golf takes away from the love of the game.”

Instead of taking on the pros, he takes the route less traveled by those with his golf game. He goes to work this summer for Ernst & Young, the multinational professional service firm. Instead of playing the pro game, he could be financial advisor to the pros. But don’t think for a minute his clubs will go into the closet for good. His future plans include golf, including playing golf at Augusta one of these day, earning a Masters berth by winning the U.S. Mid-Amateur.

“Who can argue with that?” Penley wondered, and answered his own question: “No one.”

Always give 100 percent

Behr’s philosophy is simple: give 100 percent at all times in all endeavors. And his history shows the results – three age-group state tennis champions at Belton, a string of high school and junior golf success, and his academic and athletic achievements at Clemson.

“If we have a tournament, I want to be prepared,” he said. “If I have a test, I want to be prepared. I want to try my best and accept the results, and yes, that’s a lot of hard work. But I feel like if you slack off in one part of life, that (slacking off) rubs off on everything else.”

That hard work has translated into his winning the 2016 Byron Nelson Award, presented annually to a college senior who excels not only on the course, but also in the classroom and in the community. In addition, the Clemson athletics department presented him with the Solid Orange Male Athlete of the Year award, signifying the male who exemplifies a Clemson student-athlete through leadership, athletic performance, service, academics and sportsmanship.

“He takes after his mom (Janie),” said Steve Behr, his dad who isthe head golf professional at Florence Country Club. “Obviously, we’re really proud of him and what he has accomplished. Our family is very blessed.”

Stephen Jr. cherishes his parents’ support and calls them “the key to my success. They never pushed me; they wanted me to be happy and they’ve always been there for me.”

Steve Sr. said their son picked up golf naturally.

“I never said much about golf to him,” he said. “We’d go out now and then and play a few holes. He enjoyed it, and he took it from there. It didn’t take him long to compete successfully with me on the golf course.”

Great memories at Clemson

The Behrs had an overload of good news in April – Stephen’s winning the Byron Nelson Award, his helping the Tigers capture the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and daughter Julie’s marriage.

The 2016 ACC title is one that Stephen always will hold dear. A year earlier, the Tigers had rallied to tie Georgia Tech for the tile, then squandered the advantage on the first playoff hole and eventually watched the Yellow Jackets celebrate

“That stuck with us for a year, and we wondered it that would always haunt us,” Behr said.

The Tigers made amends by winning the title by 11 strokes.

His other favorite came in his first tournament, the 2012 Carpet Capital Collegiate in Dalton, Ga.

“My redshirt freshman year,” he said. “Just stepping onto the tee with a Tiger Paw on my sleeve. That’s something I’ll always remember.”

That tournament started him on his way to leading the Tigers in scoring both his freshman and sophomore seasons, a feat achieved only twice before in the school’s history.

He has called holing a flop shot in a playoff to win the Charles Tilghman Invitational at age 14 one of his favorite shots, and his dad laughs about his son’s hole-in-one in a round with his parents.

“His Clemson biography once mentioned his hole-in-one on No. 4 at Florence Country Club, 114 with a 7-wood,” Steve Sr. said. “People would look at that yardage and that club and think, ‘Boy, he doesn’t hit it long.’ What it didn’t say he was 9 at the time. The ball hit and started rolling, and he started running after it.”

Perhaps that’s symbolic. Fourteen years later, he’s still running, running full speed ahead into a promising future.