Auburn men’s golf returns to action this weekend as the No. 1 Tigers head to San Antonio, Texas, for the Valero Texas Collegiate hosted by TPC San Antonio.
The tournament, being held from Sept. 21 – 23, will feature a number of nationally-ranked teams, including No. 3 Virginia, No. 4 Vanderbilt, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 12 Ole Miss, No. 15 LSU, No. 21 Georgia, RV SMU, Clemson, ETSU, Mississippi State, North Florida, TCU, as well as the host team, University of Texas-San Antonio (UTSA).
“It’s going to be another week of putting our feet to the fire against some incredible competition,” Auburn head coach Nick Clinard said. “This is what we want. If we want to expose the weak areas of our game, and where we really need to improve, we’ve got to play against the best of the best.”
Representing Auburn this week are returners Carson Bacha, Josiah Gilbert, Jackson Koivun, Reed Lotter, and Brendan Valdes. Freshman Billy Davis makes his collegiate debut from the No. 4 spot in the lineup while Lotter will compete as the individual.
For Saturday’s round one, Auburn plays alongside No. 3 Virginia and No. 4 Vanderbilt. Gilbert leads off from the first hole at 8:50 a.m. CT.
Last time out, in the season-opener at the Inverness Intercollegiate, Auburn finished second to the Cavaliers by four strokes, ending the program’s seven-tournament win streak. Koivun earned low medalist honors for the third time in his career with a commanding, 9-under performance. Following the win, Koivun was named SEC Co-Golfer of the Week.
For this week’s individual champion, a PGA Tour start is on the line as the medalist will receive an exemption into next season’s Valero Texas Open at TPC San Antonio.
Live scoring for the duration of the Valero Texas Collegiate is provided by golfstat.com.
This weekend, Clinard hopes to see collective improvement in his team from the start of the year. “I’m looking forward to seeing our guys’ adjustments from week one to now,” he said. TG
Follow Auburn Golf on X @auburnmgolf. Photos courtesy Auburn Athletics.
