PALM CITY, Fla. – Auburn sophomore Jackson Koivun shot 11-under to earn the 14th top-five finish of his young career and lead the top-ranked Tigers to a fifth-place outing Tuesday at The Valspar Collegiate hosted by The Floridian in Palm City, Florida.
Auburn concluded the tournament in fifth with a team score of 20-under-par, just three strokes back of second place. No. 2 Texas ran away with the title at 36-under.
“Top five is not good enough for us,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “You come to Auburn to win. We did not prepare or play like No. 1 this week. We made too many careless mistakes and had poor decision-making off the tees. We need to be better, and we will be better.”
Koivun cruised to a fourth-place finish by way of 64-72-66 (-11) scorecards. He made 13 birdies and two eagles, one of which was an ace on the par-3 8th during Tuesday’s final round.
“Fun week out here at the Floridian,” Koivun said. “Great golf course with some great competition. I’m happy with the way I played this week, but there is always more work to be done before we head into the postseason.”
Seniors Carson Bacha and Brendan Valdes as well as sophomore Josiah Gilbert all finished below par. Gilbert shot 3-under with rounds of 72, 68 and 70. Valdes and Bacha wrapped up play one stroke back at 2-under. Valdes went 69, 72, 70. Bacha started tough with a 77 (+6) but responded with a massive 63 (-8) in the middle round and closed with a 71 (E) Tuesday.
Ryan Eshleman finished at 8-over, carding a 76, 75 and 70.
The Tigers also sent four players to Mobile, Alabama, for the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate. Sophomore Cayden Pope earned a third-place finish, shooting 67-64-72 (-10). Freshman Billy Davis earned fourth, going 65-70-69 (-9). Junior Reed Lotter shot 70-69-66 (-8) for sixth, and freshman Tyler Spielman finished at even par with scores of 72, 71 and 70.
"Proud of all four guys this week," assistant coach Buddy Alexander said. "They did a great job representing Auburn. Reed, Cayden and Billy came up big to earn top 10s, and Tyler earned himself a top 20."
Next, Auburn heads to Nashville for its penultimate regular season event, the Mason Rudolph Championship, set for April 4-6 at the Vanderbilt Legends Club.