ATLANTA – No. 2 Auburn men’s golf knocked off No. 12 Florida State 3-2 in a national title rematch to punch its ticket to the finals of the 2024 East Lake Cup Tuesday evening at East Lake Golf Club.
The Tigers will face No. 11 Georgia Tech in Wednesday’s championship match, which is set to tee off at 9:40 a.m. CT.
“I thought the guys showed a lot of heart and a lot of grit,” Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. “It’s tough to win matches against great teams with great players. Hats off to Florida State. I thought our guys really started to hit some good shots and make some putts on the back nine, and that fueled us.”
Auburn found its first point in dominant fashion from senior Ryan Eshleman. Eshleman and Florida State’s Patrick McCann battled in a close match through the first eight holes, but a win on the ninth saw Eshleman take a lead that would not be relinquished. He turned on the heat, winning four of the next five holes to put the match away on 14 with a 5&4 victory.
Eshleman never trailed in his match.
“I knew that as the leadoff man, if I could get us a point early, that would really increase our chances to get a win,” Eshleman said. “That was my mindset all day. I wanted to get that early point as a little bonus.”
Some early mistakes saw senior Brendan Valdes concede a couple of holes to Jack Bigham, falling as much as two down on the fifth hole, but Valdes settled in and battled back. Three consecutive wins on holes 6, 7 and 8 got the Orlando, Florida native back on top. Bigham responded with two wins of his own on 11 and 12, but Valdes did not allow his opponent to lead for long as he won the next two holes to flip the match back in his favor. Valdes capitalized on a pair of late bogeys from Bigham to win 16 and 17, claiming Auburn’s second point in a 3&1 victory.
Sophomore Jackson Koivun faced Luke Clanton in a clash of the world’s top-two ranked amateur players. Clanton closed out the match on 16 to win 3&2.
Auburn found its final, match-winning point from sophomore Josiah Gilbert, who toppled Carson Brewer 2&1. Brewer’s only lead in the match came following a bogey from Gilbert on the first hole. Gilbert cut back to even with a win on the second and did not allow Brewer another advantage for the remainder of the afternoon. A birdie on the par-5 fourth gave Gilbert the one-up lead that he maintained until putting the match away with another birdie on the par-4 17th. Gilbert won 2&1.
Senior Carson Bacha’s match was called dead due to the Tigers’ victory in the match ahead of his. Bacha trailed Tyler Weaver by one through 16 holes.
Auburn def. Florida State, 3-2
Ryan Eshleman def. Patrick McCann, 5&4
Brendan Valdes def. Jack Bigham, 3&1
Luke Clanton def. Jackson Koivun, 3&2
Josiah Gilbert def. Carson Brewer, 2&1
Tyler Weaver def. Carson Bacha, 1-UP
Auburn v. Georgia Tech (Championship Match)
Ryan Eshleman vs. Aidan Tran (11:30 a.m. CT)
Brendan Valdes vs. Albert Hansson (11:50 a.m. CT)
Carson Bacha vs. Kale Fontenot (12:10 p.m. CT)
Josiah Gilbert vs. Benjamin Reuter (12:30 p.m. CT)
Jackson Koivun vs. Hiroshi Tai (12:50 p.m. CT)