Auburn golf finishes first round of Regional Round with dominant 13-under par
Auburn golf finishes first round of Regional Round with dominant 13-under par
The defending National Champion Auburn Tigers pounced out to an early advantage in their pursuit of a repeat championship on Monday. The No. 1 ranked golf squad in the country shot a combined 13-under par in the first round of the Auburn Regional on Monday, which was eight strokes ahead of the remainder of the field. Only No. 13 ranked UCLA (-5), No. 25 ranked Georgia Tech (-4), and No. 24 ranked SMU (-2) finished a lightning-filled day under par.
Four of the five Tigers in the field shot an even par (72) on the day, with senior Brendan Valdes (65) pacing Auburn, and the field, to lead the way. SEC Golfer of the Year Jackson Koivun finished second among all golfers in the first round with a 5-under par, 67-shot round of his own. The pair were the only golfers in the field to finish the first round with a bogey-free scorecard.
Redshirt senior Carson Bacha finished in a tie for tenth place after the conclusion of play on Monday with a 1-under par (71) finish, although a pair of uncharacteristic bogeys on the par-3 No. 8 and No. 17 holes proved the finish was lower than the senior would have liked. Auburn's least experienced golfer in the field, sophomore Cayden Pope, ended his opening round just one shot (72) below Bacha.
Sophomore Josiah Gilbert finished fifth on the team with a 1-over par, 73-shot round in which he managed just a single birdie. A frustrating 15 pars in rough conditions put a very slight damper on what was otherwise an outstanding day for the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
As if often the case in opening rounds of Regionals, the home squad managed to build a comfortable lead on Monday in large part to the Tigers familiarity with their home course. With two days remaining, Auburn will hope to fend off a UCLA team that had three golfers, Omar Morales (69), Pablo Ereno (70), and Baylor Larrabee (71) finish among the top 10 on the first round leaderboard.
Contact/Follow us @TheAuburnWire on X (Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Auburn news, notes, and opinion. You can also follow Brian on Twitter@TheRealBHauch
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