Golf Stuff

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247sports.com

Recordbreaking day as Auburn mens golf wins NCAA Regional

Jason Caldwell

3–4 minutes

Four the fourth time in program history and for the second straight year, the Auburn men's golf team won an NCAA Regional after coach Nick Clinard's No. 1 Tigers blitzed The University Club and the rest of the field in Baton Rouge on the way to a 21-under finish for the week. Auburn's round of 268 (-20) as a team was eight shots better than the school record of 276 in NCAA regional play and propelled the Tigers to an eight-shot victory over Virginia on the final day. Auburn heads into the NCAA Championships with a record of 162-4-1 against its opponents this season. It was the ninth title of the season for Auburn and the sixth-straight.

"We talked about it last night, we didn't even mention qualifying," Clinard said of the mindset of his team heading into the final round. "We talked about 'what do we have to do to beat Virginia and what do we have to do to win?' It's all about winning for us. We've won nine times. We've got one more to win.

"It probably goes down as one of the best teams in the history of college golf," he added of the record this year. "But we've still got a lot to prove. We've got one more tournament and it's on the big stage. We'll be ready, I promise that."

Leading the way for the Tigers was Brendan Valdes. Playing spectacular golf, he made seven birdies and one bogey on the way to a final round of 66. He just outpaced a pair of teammates with freshman Josiah Gilbert firing a final round 67 as well as senior J.M. Butler. Struggling the first two days with rounds of 73 and 77, Butler sandwiched bogeys at the first and final holes with seven birdies to finish with a 67. Finishing strong, Jackson Koivun's round of 68 gave him a Top 5 finish for the week along with teammates Valdes and Gilbert. Rounding out the scoring for the day was Carson Bacha, who had a final round 77 for the Tigers.

"He played great," Clinard said of Butler and his round on Wednesday. "He played like the All-American that he is. We need more of that from him, to be honest, to have a chance at the next tournament. We're going to need him to play great and I think he'll be ready."

While Auburn was tearing up the course, Virginia played well, but not nearly enough to hang with the Tigers. Finishing one-under on the back nine, the Cavs were crushed by Auburn's finish of eight-under par to provide plenty of cushion on the way to the victory. Texas Tech (-8), Ohio State (E) and LSU (+4) round out the qualifying teams from the regional.

The top five teams in all six regionals will punch their tickets to the sport's biggest stage and compete for a national championship May 24-29 at the Omni La Costa Champions Course in Carlsbad, California.

REGIONAL RESULTS

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auburntigers.com

 

TICKET PUNCHED: No. 1 Auburn wins Baton Rouge Regional to advance to 2024 NCAA Championship

Auburn University Athletics

6–8 minutes

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BATON ROUGE, La. – Auburn men's golf is headed to the 2024 NCAA Championship following a sixth consecutive tournament title for the nation's No. 1 team. The Tigers delivered an electric, 20-under final round Wednesday at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional to headline the tournament's five squads moving forward.

  The 30 advancing teams from six regional sites will converge on Carlsbad, California for a shot at a national title May 24-29. The Omni La Costa Champions Course hosts this year's event.

  "So incredibly proud of the hunger and competitive energy from this group," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "Their goal from the first tee shot was to win it. They found a way to stay patient when putts weren't falling or they didn't have their best stuff, and when it mattered, they delivered. We're excited to head to California and end a great season competing for a national championship."

  For the week, the Tigers shot 843 (-21), winning the regional by eight strokes. It is the first time in program history with regional victories in back-to-back seasons.

  Auburn's top individual of the tournament was junior Brendan Valdes. He finished tied for second with a total score of 6-under 210. His surge up the leaderboard was assisted by a clutch, 6-under 66 in the final round. He made one bogey on the day, 14, and birdied seven times on holes 2, 6, 7, 11, 13, 15 and 17.

  "It builds so much confidence for us knowing that we needed a great round today to secure a win and that's exactly what we got," Valdes said. "I think our game is in a really good place right now, and I'm excited to take that into nationals. We're going to be ready to do whatever it takes."

  Texas Tech's Baard Skogen edged Valdes out by two shots to claim medalist honors at 8-under.

  Auburn's deadly freshman duo, Jackson Koivun and Josiah Gilbert, both ended the tournament at 5-under, good for fifth place finishes. Koivun made 14 pars and 4 birdies Wednesday for the clean 68 (-4). With 164 birdies on the year, he now stands tied with Michael Johnson's 2015-16 single-season program record.

  Gilbert cruised to his third top five finish of the season with a final round 67 (-5). He played his first 11 holes at six-under before making a couple of bogeys on a tough back nine, however, he picked up one more birdie on 17 to punctuate the day.

  "Really happy to be a part of this group of guys that push each other every day," Gilbert said. "It means a lot to us to be able to perform today and finish it off. So proud of this team and what we've done this season, but we've got a few days to regroup before we head west and go for one more big run in California."

  Senior J.M. Butler saved his best stuff for last as he delivered a 5-under 67 Wednesday to surpass Jovan Rebula (2016-21) and set the new school record with 46 career rounds carded in the 60s. Butler placed 15th. Junior Carson Bacha shot 77 (+5) in the third round. He finished the week at 6-over.

  Also advancing out of Baton Rouge alongside the Tigers are No. 12 Virginia, No. 14 Texas Tech, Ohio State and LSU. Ethan Evans of Duke claimed the individual ticket. 

Players Mentioned

Carson Bacha

5' 8" Redshirt Junior

J.M. Butler

6' 3" Senior

Brendan Valdes

6' 0" Junior

Josiah Gilbert

5' 9" Freshman

Jackson Koivun

5' 10" Freshman

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al.com

In a program first, Auburn men’s and women’s golf win NCAA Regional in same year

Updated: May. 15, 2024, 2:26 p.m.|Published: May. 15, 2024, 2:00 p.m.

2–3 minutes

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

For the first time in program history, both the Auburn men’s and women’s golf teams won their respective NCAA Regionals, safely advancing to the upcoming NCAA championship event.

The No. 1 overall ranked Auburn men’s team clinched the Baton Rouge regional Wednesday by shooting 20-under-par as a team on the day to go from behind Virginia in the team standings entering the day to winning the Regional by eight shots.

Three Auburn golfers — freshmen Jackson Koivun and Josiah Gilbert as well as junior Brendan Valdes — shot rounds of 68 or better on Wednesday to all finish in the top five of the individual standings and lead Auburn to the dominant final team day.

The men’s golf team has now won six consecutive events including the SEC team championship. Koivun won the individual championship.

The women’s team hosted the event at the AU Club in the first week of May and won by four shots over the field. Freshman Anna Davis shot a final-round 69 to win the individual Regional championship as well.

This is the fourth NCAA Regional win for the men’s golf team and the second year in a row finishing first. It’s the first Regional win ever for the women.

Auburn is the only school this year to win both its men’s and women’s NCAA Regional appearances.

The women’s championship will be held from May 17-22 at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. The men’s championship will be played from May 24-29 at the same course.

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

[aubcali 436]

My 2 cents, (which is probably worth less than that) we should have a major headline thread that includes the huge updates of all Auburn sports so great news like this isn’t hidden on the “other AU Sports” thread.  
 

Men’s and Women’s Golf need all the support they can get from us!   
 

 

[aubiefifty 17,098]

1 hour ago, aubcali said:

My 2 cents, (which is probably worth less than that) we should have a major headline thread that includes the huge updates of all Auburn sports so great news like this isn’t hidden on the “other AU Sports” thread.  
 

Men’s and Women’s Golf need all the support they can get from us!   
 

 

i agree but every single time i come up with an idea i am ignored to the point of no one answering my question. it is a bad thing this site does. if someone takes the time to ask a question they should get an answer and i stand by that. the mods do great overall i am talking admins and owners.

Edited May 16 by aubiefifty