May 16, 2015
Senior Dan Stringfellow fired a final round 4-under 67 to tie for seventh with Ryan Benton laeding Auburn to its fourth-straight NCAA Championship appearance
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The No. 7 Auburn men's golf team climbed from seventh to fourth by firing a 4-under 280 in the NCAA Lubbock Regional final round on Saturday at The Rawls Course to earn its fourth-straight trip to the NCAA Championship.
The Tigers, which were one shot off the cutline after the second round, finished the final two holes 2-under to separate itself from the pack in which the top five teams advance to the NCAA Championship in Bradenton, Fla., at The Concession Club May 29-June 3.
"It was a stressful day and kind of up and down," said head coach Nick Clinard. "We got off to a great start there getting it to 9-under, and we had some pick-ups on the par 3 eighth. We had a lot of great shots coming down the stretch.
"MJ (Michael Johnson) had a huge putt on eight. Dan (Stringfellow) made about a 15-footer for birdie on nine (Auburn's final hole) when he had to make it. He has just turned into a big-time player. You can't be more proud of all the guys. It was a total team effort."
No. 2 Texas won the NCAA Regional at 22-under (273-282-275---830), followed by No. 9 Texas Tech (278-274-282--834), Duke (276-282-286--844), No. 7 Auburn (280-285-280--845) while Purdue (279-289-279--847) and Houston (274-287-286---847) tied for fifth with the Cougars winning in a playoff for the final spot.
No. 25 California (279-287-280--848) finished seventh, Louisville (283-281-288--852), Southeastern Louisiana (285-279-292--856) and UC Irvine (287-291-287--865) in 10th.
Senior Dan Stringfellow fired a 4-under final round 67 including birdies on his final two holes, and sophomore Ryan Benton had a 3-under 68 as both tied for seventh to lead the Tigers. Stringfellow, who had five birdies and an eagle, tied for seventh at 4-under after a pair of even par rounds the first two days.
"I started out really well and made an eagle on my ninth hole and was feeling pretty good," said Stringfellow. "I made two bogeys right around the turn. I was getting a little shaky, but Coach got me pumped up and made some putts on the last two holes for birdie.
"It feels awesome to go to the NCAA Championship. I'm so glad we pulled together. It's my last year, and my last year as an Auburn Tiger, so I am pretty pumped."
Benton added five birdies of his own, including four on his outward nine, the back nine.
"We all needed to come out and play well," said Benton. "Yesterday I didn't score well, but I was hitting it well. I knew today was going to be a good day because it was only a matter of time before I made some birdies and got the round going. It was playing really tough and really windy. I just wanted to have fun out there, stay in the moment and take it one shot at a time.
"It is really big because this course was playing tough, we are a really good team and there are a lot of good teams out here. We definitely deserve to be at the national championship, and I am glad we found a way to get through."
All-SEC junior Michael Johnson tied for 30th at 1-over 214 with a final round 2-over 73, All-SEC freshman Ben Schlottman tied for 54th at 6-over but had a 1-under 70 to close and All-SEC sophomore Matt Gilchrest tied for 63rd at 77-223.
Georgia State (287-284-300-871) finished 11th followed by No. 23 North Florida (291-292-287-870) and Charleston Southern (286-309-295---890).
Texas Tech's Clement Sordat and Houston's Blair Hamilton were co-medalists at 8-under 205. There was not a playoff individually. California's K.K. Limbhasut tied for fourth and advanced to the NCAA Championship individually at 5-under.
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