AUBURN, Ala. – The top-ranked Tigers of Auburn men’s golf are officially back in action this week at the Inverness Intercollegiate set for Sept. 9-10 at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. Auburn returns to competition just over 100 days after capturing the program’s first national title in May.
“We’re so excited to be back on the course competing again,” Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. “We’re starting the year with a bang, playing at a great course against really solid opposition. It’s going to be an exciting way to kickstart another exciting season.”
A win at Inverness would be the team’s eighth in a row, tying the NCAA record set by Ohio State in 1976.
Coming out on top will be no easy feat; however, as the tournament field consists of nine programs who are ranked or receiving votes. Joining the nation’s No. 1 Tigers are No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Virginia, No. 12 Oklahoma and No. 15 Texas Tech. RV Wake Forest, RV Louisville, RV Clemson, RV SMU, Cal Poly, College of Charleston, Michigan, Purdue and host Toledo round out the field.
The Auburn lineup consists of four of the five members from the squad’s 2024 postseason run. Returning to the links are seniors Carson Bacha and Brendan Valdes and sophomores Josiah Gilbert and Jackson Koivun. Junior Reed Lotter slots in at the fourth position this week. Senior Ryan Eshleman also makes the trip as an individual player.
An 8:30 a.m. CT shotgun start signals the beginning of Monday’s 36 holes of action. Teams return to tee times for Tuesday’s finale.
Last season, Auburn pieced together one of the most magical runs in the history of collegiate golf, racking up 10 tournament wins, including seven in a row to close the year. The Tigers captured the program’s fifth SEC Championship and first NCAA Championship.
Clinard and assistant coach Chris Williams were named the National Head Coach and Assistant Coach of the year, respectively.
Koivun and Valdes earned a pair of nods as GCAA First Team All-Americans. The duo went on to represent the United States at the 2024 Arnold Palmer Cup in Ireland, helping the Americans to their first victory on European soil since 2018.
Koivun also became the third man in Southeastern Conference history to be named SEC Freshman and Player of the Year in the same season. He capped his rookie campaign on The Plains by becoming the first player in the history of the sport to win the Haskins, Hogan, Nicklaus and Mickelson Awards all at once.
ESPN+ will carry Tuesday’s final round at Inverness from 1 – 4 p.m. CT. Live scoring for the duration of the tournament is provided via Golfstat.com.