CARLSBAD, Calif. – Auburn men's golf head coach Nick Clinard has been named one of five finalists for the Dave Williams Division I National Coach of the Year Award, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced Friday.
Clinard's fellow finalists are Jake Amos of East Tennessee State, Sean Covich of West Virginia, Andrew DiBitetto of North Carolina and Scott Limbaugh of Vanderbilt. All five are present at the 2024 NCAA Championship.
This season, under Clinard's tutelage, the top-ranked Tigers have kicked down the door of nearly every school record in the book with nine tournament wins, including six in a row, and an SEC Championship. Clinard's top prodigy, Jackson Koivun, has made Auburn a national name thanks to a slew of individual honors such as the Ben Hogan Award, SEC Freshman of the Year and SEC Player of the Year. Koivun also led the Tigers to the No. 1 seed at the conference championship thanks to 12-under medalist performance that saw the rookie beat his nearest competitor by six strokes.
Clinard's crew officially begins its quest for a national title Friday, May 24 at 2 p.m. CT at the NCAA Championship hosted by Omni La Costa in Carlsbad, California.