SEC CHAMPS!!!!! No. 1 Auburn beats No. 2 Vanderbilt to win conference title

[augolf1716 21,303]

I guess we're not mediocre in every sport..........................................

[akillshot 296]

@augolf1716Thanks for sharing the posts on the team during the SEC tournament

[augolf1716 21,303]

22 minutes ago, akillshot said:

@augolf1716Thanks for sharing the posts on the team during the SEC tournament

Thanks I enjoy doing it especially when we're winning. Auburn golf means a lot to me and I was a nervous wreck trying to watch it on TV.

[Golden Eagle 388]

7 minutes ago, augolf1716 said:

Thanks I enjoy doing it especially when we're winning. Auburn golf means a lot to me and I was a nervous wreck trying to watch it on TV.

I watched this morning and was a nervous wreck, too.  Thought about turning it off and waiting for your updates but I'm glad I kept it on. GREAT WIN - WDE!!!

[augolf1716 21,303]

1 minute ago, Golden Eagle said:

I watched this morning and was a nervous wreck, too.  Thought about turning it off and waiting for your updates but I'm glad I kept it on. GREAT WIN - WDE!!!

Its so hard for me to do updates and watch at the same time. My old heart can't take the stress and my fingers want type what I'm trying to say if that makes sense.....

[augolf1716 21,303]

I'm just happy we got two pages on Auburn golf......who would have thunk it

[AURex 2,031]

I never played gold, but my dad was a very good amateur golfer and I caddied for him for years. I'm glad to see the team doing great!

 

[autigeremt 6,704]

[MCPeePants 233]

WDE

[aubaseball 2,652]

Nice!!! WDE !   

[jluvah 672]

Jackson Koivun is a STUD!

[ertrader 206]

Feel bad for Butler, never gets to finish his matchup

[augolf1716 21,303]

4 hours ago, ertrader said:

Feel bad for Butler, never gets to finish his matchup

I bet he's OK with that this time

[TuscaloosaTiger 285]

AUGolf....you need to retitle this topic to highlight that AU men's golf team won the SEC tournament championship. This is a big deal and the team should be recognized here and in the Nest for this terrific achievement. Congratulations!

[augolf1716 21,303]

I expect us to be very good next year we only lose JM as a senior. Two of our best players are freshmen plus we have the #1 junior golf player in Billy Davis coming in next year from California. 

 

 

ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. – In a match between college golf's top teams, No. 1 Auburn grabbed an early lead and never let up, defeating No. 2 Vanderbilt 3-2 to win the 2024 SEC Championship Sunday at Sea Island Golf Club. 

"Wow, what a week," said Auburn coach Nick Clinard. "Match play is so difficult, especially when you're playing teams that have some of the best players in the world. We got on them early and we stayed there, we hung tough. Our guys were very motivated, they got some good rest last night."  

With two matches secured, freshman Josiah Gilbert clinched the conference championship for Auburn by defeating defending NCAA medalist Gordon Sargent 4-up. The match ended on hole No. 16 when Sargent, trailing by three and needing to win out, conceded the point after missing a long par putt. 

"There's no bigger stage in the SEC. It's a great place to show what you've worked for," said Gilbert, who lost the first hole before winning the next four to seize control of the match. "I'm happy for the team. Soak it in, enjoy it, then eyes up to nationals. We've got a bigger picture ahead of us now." 

Fellow freshman Jackson Koivun, two days after winning individual medalist honors, continued his torrid play, defeating Vanderbilt's Matthew Riedel 7&6 to claim Auburn's first finals match.

"I played really well today and felt like I had the momentum the whole time," said Koivun, who won three of the first holes and needed only 12 holes to win the match. "My putting was really good today. This is what we grind for and it's starting to pay off. It's a great tournament to win. I know we've been looking forward to it for a while. We've still got two more tournaments to go so we're setting our focus for that." 

"How about our freshmen," Clinard said. "How about Josiah Gilbert and how about Jackson Koivun in stroke play and match play, going 3-0. We're not standing right here without them; I can promise you that."

Junior Carson Bacha claimed Auburn's second match, setting the stage for Gilbert's clincher. In a back-and-forth leadoff match, Bacha took the lead for good on hole No. 13 and clinched the match with a short par putt on 18 to win 1-up.  

"It was about staying patient, staying in the moment and waiting for your opportunities to come up" Bacha said. "A nice two-putt for the win. Really happy to get the job done and help the guys out.

"I'm so proud of the guys. This is what we've been working for all year. We're so happy to come out on top of this match. Everybody brought it all week and we're so fortunate to be in this position."

The SEC title is Auburn's fifth in program history and first since Wells Padgett's 20-foot walk-off birdie putt on the same course in 2018. Brendan Valdes and J.M. Butler also competed for the Tigers against the Commodores after each earned a victory on Saturday to help advance Auburn in the tournament.

The top-ranked Tigers will seek to secure more postseason trophies in NCAA regionals May 13-15 and ultimately the NCAA Championship May 24-29 in Carlsbad, California. 

"They've had a great year," Clinard said. "We've got a lot to play for. The job's not finished." 
 

 

[aubiefifty 16,906]

 

[aubiefifty 16,906]

al.com

Driven by its freshmen, Auburn men’s golf returns as SEC champions

Updated: Apr. 28, 2024, 1:43 p.m.|Published: Apr. 28, 2024, 12:38 p.m.

6–7 minutes

He saw the crowd swell around him and his teammates begin to pop up around the green. He saw his head coach jump over to his group and the large brim of his athletic director’s sun hat among the people. That must have been a good sign, he later said.

Josiah Gilbert was about to learn he was the pivotal point Auburn needed to close out an SEC team championship win over Vanderbilt. Teammate Carson Bacha had just won his match on the 18th hole after Jackson Koivun already finished a dominant 7&6 win in his own match and the parade of golf carts swung back to find Gilbert on the 15th fairway.

“I took it as a sign that we only needed one more,” Gilbert said. “I did get a little nervous on 15. But up until then, I was pretty locked in.”

Yet suddenly thrust into the biggest moment of his young college golf career, Gilbert held serve. He did it against Gordon Sargent, one of the most heralded college golfers of his generation.

And he finished off in the arms of his teammates and coaches watching. This was Gilbert’s moment.

Josiah Gilbert hugs teammate Carson Bacha on the 16th green after winning the SEC Men's Golf Championship on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at the Sea Island Golf Course in St. Simon's Island, GA / UAA Communications photo by Katie ParkKatiePark

Gilbert clinched Auburn’s fifth SEC team title in program history 3-2 over Vanderbilt. It’s Auburn’s first title since 2018. It’s an Auburn team where no one had ever played for an SEC title before, and beat a far more experienced Vanderbilt side. Auburn, the No. 1 ranked team in America, has now beaten No. 2 Vanderbilt twice this season.

Both times, it’s been lifted by its freshman. On this day, those freshmen helped Auburn lift a trophy.

“How ‘bout that for a freshman,” head coach Nick Clinard yelled as he hugged Gilbert on the 16th green.

Maybe Auburn knew what it had in Koivun — the top-ranked player in his high school class who won the SEC individual championship on Friday and already emerged as one of the best collegiate golfers in America and a top 10 amateur in the world despite only being a freshman.

Maybe it didn’t quite know this about Gilbert.

“From day one we were always treated as though we were not freshmen,” Gilbert said. “The upperclassmen have done a really good job of that. They’ve welcomed us with open arms and then they’ve held us to the same standard as them. That matured us very quickly.”

Auburn freshmen Josiah Gilbert and Jackson Koivun hug on the 16th green after winning the SEC title. SEC Men's Golf Championship on Sunday, April 28, 2024 at the Sea Island Golf Course in St. Simon's Island, GA / UAA Communications photo by Katie ParkKatiePark

Before Saturday, Gilbert hadn’t participated in a collegiate match play event. He’d had experience in junior golf, but not under pressure like the knockout rounds of the SEC championship.

He won all three of his weekend matches.

And maybe the matchup against Sargent in the final would be too big. Clinard said he wanted Gilbert to learn from Sargent. But learning had to come by fire sometimes, and this was that opportunity. He wanted to have Gilbert in maybe the most difficult matchup. He said Gilbert would not back down.

It’s exactly what Gilbert wanted, too.

“I love it,” Gilbert said of the matchup. “It’s always going to be a challenge. Makes you switch on a little bit. Once you have that opportunity, it’s a good time to take it. There’s no bigger stage in the SEC. It’s just a great place to show what you’ve worked for.”

Gilbert fell one back after the first hole against Sargent. Gilbert then proceeded to win five of the next six holes to swing that deficit into a 4-up lead. That was in large part due to his putting, which was, as Gilbert said, locked in over the front nine especially.

He never allowed Sargent any closer than within three holes.

One group behind him, Koivun dominated. He didn’t lose a single hole against Vanderbilt’s Matthew Riedel.

Auburn’s two freshmen combined to win their matches by 11 holes over two of the top 25 ranked amateur golfers in the world.

Gilbert won the SEC Freshman of the Week award in October but hasn’t been the same mainstay in Auburn lineups that Koivun has been. Gilbert was the No. 24 ranked player in his class — highly ranked, but maybe not that of Koivun.

Gilbert proved he belonged just the same.

In October, Auburn junior Brendan Valdes said the freshmen might be the missing piece to get Auburn over the hump this year. In winning the SEC crown, Valdes was proved right. He and several more veteran Auburn teammates finally won a team title during their time here. The next step is NCAA tournament events where Auburn will enter as a likely favorite and No. 1 overall team. Gilbert will assuredly be part of the lineup.

But Auburn feels it knew what it had in Gilbert all along.

“We didn’t really learn nothing,” teammate J.M. Butler said after lifting the trophy. “We already knew. He’s a dawg. Koivun’s a dawg. This team is just full of dawgs, I’ll be honest.”

Butler then went to take a few more pictures. He and his teammates wore SEC medals around their necks and SEC champions hats and t-shirts. They finished their photoshoot and then all raced to get in the van and hit the road back to Auburn.

They’re supposed to be back at Toomer’s Corner by 6. The toilet paper is waiting.

Matt Cohen covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com

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[aubiefifty 16,906]

21 hours ago, augolf1716 said:

I guess we're not mediocre in every sport..........................................

you tell em golf!