AUBURN, Ala. – The nation’s top-ranked team, Auburn men’s golf, looks to make it three straight titles this week at the Valspar Collegiate, set for March 24-25 at The Floridian in Palm City, Florida.
Another win won’t come easy as the tournament field includes 17 teams, 11 of which are ranked inside the top 25, and five inside the top 10.
“You can ask for much more than what we’re getting this week – great venue and elite competition,” Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. “The level of play here will emulate that of a postseason event. We’re going to compete against the best of the best, and it’ll be exciting to see where we line up against some incredible players and coaches. It’ll be a great measuring stick of where we need to improve and evolve moving forward.”
In addition to national No. 1 Auburn, competing for top honors this week are No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Arizona State, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 14 Florida State, No. 17 Duke, No. 19 Vanderbilt, No. 21 Texas Tech, No. 22 Tennessee, No. 23 Texas A&M, Arkansas, Augusta, Houston, Ohio State, South Florida and Wake Forest.
Auburn will play Monday’s 36-hole day in a foursome with Houston, Florida State and Arkansas. A shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. CT will kickstart the action. The Tigers’ group begins play on holes 9-11.
Representing the Orange & Blue will be seniors Carson Bacha, Ryan Eshleman and Brendan Valdes as well as sophomores Josiah Gilbert and Jackson Koivun.
This season, the fivesome has teamed up to account for 19 individual top-10 finishes, 55 subpar rounds, 366 birdies, and three team wins.
All five saw action in last week’s victory at the General James Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Four of the guys earned top-10 finishes with Valdes highlighting the performance as the low medalist behind a 12-under-par effort. He was consequently named the SEC Golfer of the Week.
Live scoring for the 2025 Valspar Collegiate can be found at scoreboard.clippd.com.