May 13, 2018
AUBURN, Ala. - The No. 7 Auburn men's golf team is set to begin its run for a national title when it takes part in the NCAA Norman Regional, May 14-16. The Tigers are part of a 14-team field in Norman, Okla. at the Jimmie Austin OU Club.
Auburn comes in as the No. 2 seed after earning automatic qualification by winning the Southeastern Conference Championship. The top five teams and one individual from the regional will advance to the 2018 NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Okla., May 25-30.
The Tigers have a Sunday practice round before three rounds of stroke play in successive days, beginning Monday morning when they tee off with Arkansas and Oklahoma in a pairing at 7:30 a.m. CT off the first tee.
"We are excited to play in Oklahoma and are looking forward to the challenge," head coach Nick Clinard said. "It's another great field and another opportunity for us to cement ourselves as one of the best teams in the nation. The guys have worked smartly and diligently in their preparation, and it's going to be a fun week competing."
Auburn will be joined on the course by host No. 2 Oklahoma, as well as No. 15 Arkansas, No. 23 Florida State, BYU, Navy, Nevada, North Florida, Pepperdine, Prairie View A&M, San Diego State, Sam Houston State, UMKC and Virginia.
Representing the Tigers during the week are Trace Crowe, Ryan Knop, Brandon Mancheno, Wells Padgett, Jovan Rebula and Ben Schlottman.
Auburn is making its ninth appearance in the NCAA Regionals in nine seasons under Clinard and is one of only six teams to advance to the NCAA Championship each of the past six seasons.
The Tigers are 10-0-1 against the field during the 2017-18 season, boasting wins over Arkansas (1-0-1), BYU (1-0), Florida State (1-0), North Florida (3-0), Pepperdine (1-0), Sam Houston State (1-0) and Virginia (2-0).
Mancheno leads Auburn with a stroke average of 70.52 per round, followed by Schlottman (70.67), Rebula (70.91), Crowe (71.03), Padgett (71.73) and Knop (71.75).
The Tigers were recently rewarded for their historical season by the conference office as Coach Clinard was named the SEC Coach of the Year, while Mancheno took home SEC Freshman of the Year honors.
Mancheno also earned Second Team All-SEC honors with Rebula, as well as All-SEC Freshman Team with Padgett. Schlottman was Auburn's representative on the SEC Community Service Team.
Live scoring for the NCAA Norman Regional is available all week on Golfstat.com.