March 20, 2015
Freshman Ben Schlottman leads by one after the Schenkel Invitational first round with a career-low 6-under 66.
STATESBORO, Ga. - The fourth-ranked Auburn men's golf team fired a 14-under 274 and trails No. 5 Vanderbilt by one shot after the Schenkel Invitational first round at Forest Hieghts Country Club on Friday. Freshman Ben Schlottman holds the individual lead with a career-low 6-under 66.
Schlottman's round included an eagle and five birdies, including three-straight on Nos. 11-13. The Advance, N.C., native has a a one shot lead over Vanderbilt's Matthias Schwab and Wake Forest's Cyrus Stewart.
Sophomore Will Long is tied for fourth with a career-low tying 68 that included five birdies. Senior Dan Stringfellow and junior Michael Johnson are tied for 17th with a pair of 70s while sophomore All-SEC Matt Gilchrest and freshman Matthew Perrine, who is playing as an individual, are tied for 38th at even par.
"We are really playing well right now," said Auburn head coach Nick Clinard of the Tigers, who just missed their season-low score of 15-under, third-best in school history, last weekend at the Tiger Invitational. "All of our guys shot even par or better while Ben and Will were phenomenal.
"We play 36 holes tomorrow so it is going to be a long day of golf so we need to maintain focus."
No. 16 Wake Forest is in third, five shots behind the Tigers with a 9-under 279 followed by North Carolina State (281), Georgia Southern (282), Florida (283), Kentucky (285), Iowa (285), North Florida (286) and Louisville (286) to round out the top 10.
UAB (290) is in 11th ahead of UCF (291), Ole Miss (292), College of Charleston (297) and South Alabama (306).
The three-day tournament will be shortened to two days because of impending weather on Sunday so the teams will play 36 holes with a shotgun start on Saturday. Auburn tees off in the second round on No. 1 at 7:30 am Central with Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
Live-scoring for the tournament can be found on www.golfstat.com. For the most up to date information, follow us on Twitter @AUMensGolf or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AUMensGolf.