Feb. 1, 2017
AUBURN, Ala. -- No. 7 Auburn men's golf tees off at the Amer Ari Invitational Thursday through Saturday at the par 72, 7,074-yard Kings' Course at the Waikoloa Beach Resort in Waikoloa, Hawaii. The field includes eight of the top-25 teams in the nation, including 2016 national champion No. 17 Oregon and runner-up No. 12 Texas.
The 21-team field includes No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 Southern California, No. 8 Stanford, Texas, No. 15 Texas Tech, Oregon, No. 24 Colorado, Georgia Tech, TCU, Arizona State, San Jose State, UC Davis, UCLA, Hawaii, Pacific, Chico State, St. Mary's (CA), Osaka Gaukin and host Hawaii-Hilo.
"It's a great field. It's Hawaii, I mean, everyone wants to go there," head coach Nick Clinard said. "There's great weather and a great field. It can be windy or can not be windy. We really haven't played in that much wind there the last couple of years, so I actually wouldn't mind seeing the wind blow a little bit to separate the field. There are a lot of great players. I bet there are 10 guys that are going to play on the PGA Tour, and as a coach it's always fun to watch those guys and see how they develop. We are looking forward to being there, competing and having fun."
Seven Tigers made the trip to the islands: Will Long, Ben Schlottman, Jacob Solomon, Ryan Benton, Matt Gilchrest, Jovan Rebula and Trace Crowe.
Long is currently ranked the No. 4 individual in the country after finishing in the top-9 of all four fall tournaments. He leads the Tigers at 69. 75 strokes per round. The senior from Gastonia, N.C., finished third at the Inverness Intercollegiate at 3-under 73-68-69--210, tied for fourth at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate at 6-under 68-74-68--210, tied for fifth at the Jerry Pate National at 2-under70-70-68--209 and finished ninth at the Carpet Capital Collegiate at 7-under 68-72-69--209.
"This is the most fun tournament of the year," Long said. "You get to spend a week in Hawaii, and that's pretty awesome. It's a great field. It's probably the best field we will see until postseason, SECs and nationals, so it's a really good warm up tournament to see how where our game is and what we need to improve on through the rest of the season."
Schlottman, a junior from Advance, N.C., is carding 72.00. The All-America selection tied for ninth at the Jerry Pate National with an even-par 70-71-69--210.
Solomon is averaging 71.67 and had two top-20 finishes in the fall. The sophomore from Dublin, Calif., was a PING All-Southeast Region selection last season as a freshman.
Benton started his senior campaign with a bang, finishing in the top-4 twice in the fall. The Dothan, Ala., native tied for runner-up at the Carpet Capital Collegiate at 10-under 68-67-71--206 and t-4th at the Inverness Intercollegiate at 2-under 69-72-70--211. He is averaging 71.83.
Gilchrest, a senior from Southlake, Texas, tied with Benton for fourth at the Inverness Intercollegiate at 64-72-75--211. His opening round 64 tied his career-low and the second-lowest round in school history, just one off the record. The two-time All-SEC selection is averaging 71.92.
Rebula, a freshman from George, South Africa, is averaging 71.78. He counted 8-of-9 rounds played in the fall and finished eighth at the Jerry Pate National at 1-under 68-68-73--209.
Crowe, a sophomore from Bluffton, S.C., is averaging 71.33. He tied for 11th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate at 6-under 68-75-67--210 competing as an individual.
Live scoring for the Amer Ari Invitational can be found at Golfstat.com