Aug. 28, 2014
AUBURN, Ala. - Auburn men's golf is ranked 20th nationally in the Golf Coaches Association of America preseason poll and is one of eight SEC schools ranked in the top 25.
The Tigers, under sixth-year head coach Nick Clinard, return seven of nine players from last year's squad, including junior Michael Johnson, who was redshirted in 2013-14 after being a 2013 PING Southeast all-region selection.
Auburn, which advanced to its third-straight NCAA Championship, had three wins and eight top-3 finishes, including thirds in both the NCAA Regional and SEC Championship.
Alabama and Oklahoma State are both preseason ranked No. 1 followed by Georgia Tech in third, Texas, Georgia, Illinois, Stanford, Washington, LSU and UCLA to round out the top 10.
Oklahoma is ranked 11th ahead of South Carolina, Virginia, California, Houston, Vanderbilt, Florida State, UCF, Texas A&M and Auburn.
Arkansas is No. 21 followed by New Mexico, Virginia Tech, Southern California and Oregon.
Lone senior Dan Stringfellow advanced to match play at the U.S. Amateur this summer while sophomore Matt Gilchrest earned Freshman All-SEC honors last year. Junior Jake Mondy won the Virginia State Amateur for the second time in three years while sophomore Ryan Benton was the runner-up at the Alabama State Amateur. Sophomore Will Long finished third in the Palmetto Amateur and Matt Gilchrest was third in the Trans-Miss.
The Tigers open the 2014-15 season at the Carpet Capital Collegiate at The Farm in Dalton, Ga., Sept. 5-7.
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