BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Following yet another season of dominance from the top-ranked Tigers, Auburn men’s golf was recognized by the league office with eight Southeastern Conference end-of-year awards on Friday.
Head coach Nick Clinard and sophomore sensation Jackson Koivun earned Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, respectively, for the second consecutive season.
Koivun and senior Brendan Valdes earned spots on the All-SEC First Team while senior Carson Bacha and sophomore Josiah Gilbert played their way onto the second team. Rookie Billy Davis also made the conference’s All-Freshman squad.
Senior Ryan Eshleman makes his third career appearance on the SEC Community Service Team as a reward for his efforts and involvement in the local community.
For Clinard, it's his third Coach of the Year title after previously claiming the honor in 2018 and 2024. He joins Mike Griffin (1995, 1997, 2001, 2002) as the second head coach in program history to win the award on more than two occasions. He’s also just the eighth coach in SEC history to win it in back-to-back years.
Koivun takes home Auburn’s third SEC Player of the Year Award and is the first in program history to do so multiple times. In the 43-year history of the award, it has only gone to the same player in back-to-back years twice prior. Alabama’s Steve Lowrey went back-to-back the first two years it was given, 1982 and 1983, and LSU’s David Toms was a repeat winner 36 years ago, in 1988 and 1989.
In his second season on The Plains, Koivun has lowered his scoring average to 68.90 while picking up nine top 20 finishes in 11 starts. The Chapel Hill, North Carolina native also earned the third and fourth individual wins of his career. First, he shot 9-under in September to walk out on top of the Inverness Intercollegiate. He followed it with an electric performance last month at the SEC Championship, making birdie on five of his final six holes to shoot 12-under and become the tournament’s first repeat individual champion in nearly 50 years.
Joining Koivun on the league's first team is Valdes. He becomes the first player in Auburn history to be named a three-time first-teamer. The Orlando, Florida product has crafted another masterful season in his final year as a Tiger, averaging 69.81 strokes per round with a top-20 finish in all but one start. Valdes snagged his third career individual win in March at the General Hackler Championship, thanks to a dazzling 12-under 204 performance.
Saving his best season for last, Bacha makes an appearance on the All-SEC Second Team for the first time in his career. The senior from York, Pennsylvania has been a steady force in the Orange & Blue lineup since October, finishing higher than 14th just twice. Bacha capped his resume with a bronze-worthy finish a few weeks ago at the SEC Championship.
Also on the second team, Gilbert continues to improve on his All-Freshman campaign from a year ago. The sophomore shot 12-under in September’s Valero Texas Collegiate to become low medalist for the first time in his career. He’s added four top-10 finishes and a 70.26 scoring average.
As one of the conference’s top rookies, Davis earned a spot as one of six men on the SEC All-Freshman Team. Over 27 rounds of competition, Davis has carded 16 at par or better for a 71.11 scoring average.
It is the sixth straight year Auburn has been represented on the All-Freshman Team.
Finally, Eshleman was Auburn's representative on the SEC Community Service Team for the third year in a row. He joins Jay Moseley (2006-08) and Graysen Huff (2019-21) as the only three-time recipients in program history. Eshleman was recognized for his efforts to make a difference in the community through his partnership with organizations like the Jason Dufner Foundation, the Auburn Food Bank and Toys for Tots. In October, Eshleman was bestowed with the East Lake Foundation’s Tom Cousins Award for his exemplary character and attitude on and off the golf course.
All SEC yearly awards are determined by a vote from the league's 16 head coaches.
No. 1 Auburn is back in action early next week, May 12-14, at the NCAA Championship qualifier at Auburn University Club. The top five teams from the regional will earn a ticket to the 2025 NCAA Championship slated for May 23-28 at the Omni La Costa Champions Course in Carlsbad, California.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jackson Koivun, Auburn
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR
Daniel Bennett, Texas
COACH OF THE YEAR
Nick Clinard, Auburn
FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC
Jackson Koivun, Auburn
Michael La Sasso, Ole Miss
Jase Summy, Oklahoma
Ian Gilligan, Florida
Algot Kleen, LSU
Daniel Bennett, Texas
Brendan Valdes, Auburn
Christiaan Maas, Texas
Phichaksn Maichon, Texas A&M
SECOND TEAM ALL-SEC
Carson Bacha, Auburn
Josiah Gilbert, Auburn
Drew Goodman, Oklahoma
Tommy Morrison, Texas
Jackson Van Paris, Vanderbilt
Arni Sveinsson, LSU
Tom Fischer, Ole Miss
Jack Turner, Florida
Wells Williams, Vanderbilt
Buck Brumlow, Georgia
ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
Daniel Bennett, Texas
Arni Sveinsson, LSU
Wheaton Ennis, Texas A&M
Billy Davis, Auburn
Zack Swanwick, Florida
Trent Mierl, Missouri
COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM
Jones Free, Alabama
Rex Hargrove, Arkansas
Ryan Eshleman, Auburn
Rylan Shim, Florida
Georgia Langham, Georgia
Oakley Gee, Kentucky
Jay Mendell, LSU
Tom Fischer, Ole Miss
Josep Serra, Mississippi State
Bubba Chapman, Missouri
Drew Goodman, Oklahoma
Nathan Franks, South Carolina
Jake Maggert, Texas A&M
Ben Loomis, Vanderbilt