Feb. 23, 2016
MOBILE, Ala. - No. 4 Auburn men's golf won the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate for the fourth consecutive year, carding a 10-under 278 on Tuesday for a tournament record 26-under 838 total at the Magnolia Grove Crossings Course. All-SEC senior Michael Johnson took home medalist honors for the second time this season and fourth time in his career at 14-under 66-68-68-202.
Auburn (278-282-278-838) defeated Chattanooga (285-283-284-852) by 14 strokes and No. 2 Wake Forest (292-283-284-856) by 18 strokes. Johnson, the No. 2 ranked collegiate golfer by GolfWeek, tied Jay Moseley at the 2006 John Burns Intercollegiate and Blayne Barber at the 2010 Bridgestone Intercollegiate for the third-lowest 54-hole score in school history.
He was two strokes off of his own record of 16-under 200 set at the 2014 Primland Collegiate. The Birmingham, Ala., native fired a bogey-free 4-under 68 final round with birdies on Nos. 6 and 8 on the front and Nos. 11 and 18 on the back nine.
"This week was a lot of fun for me," Johnson said. "I played really well from tee to green. It was a week where golf felt somewhat easy. Those are always fun weeks. You don't get a lot of those as a golfer, because it's a tough game.
"It felt great to get the individual win and team win. We played awesome as a team, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."
Senior Jake Mondy and All-SEC junior Matt Gilchrest tied for third at 5-under 211.
Mondy (69-72-70-211) carded a final round 2-under 70 as he birdied Nos. 1, 2, 6, 9 and 13.
Gilchrest, who won medalist honors at last year's event, carded an even par final round to finish a season-best 71-68-72-211.
All-America sophomore Ben Schlottman used a bogey-free 4-under 68 final round to climb 23 spots to tie for 17th at even par- 74-74-68-214. Junior Will Long tied for 51st at 7-over 72-75-76-223.
"This is a big win for the program, and the guys played outstanding overall," head coach Nick Clinard said. "Michael Johnson dominated the field and was on top of his game this week. Jake Mondy and Matt Gilchrest played very well which is really encouraging, as was Ben Schlottman's final round 68."
Kansas State finished fourth at 281-858 followed by Georgia State (285-859), host-South Alabama (287-866), Ole Miss (289-867), Mississippi State (289-870), Eastern Michigan (288-874) and Southern Mississippi (289-879).
Texas State finished 11th at 288-880 followed by Louisiana (291-882), Illinois State (285-883), Middle Tennessee State (296-886) and Mercer (292-887).
In the USA Individual tournament, also hosted by South Alabama, held at the par-71 Magnolia Grove Falls Course, freshman Trace Crowe won medalist honors for the first time in his career at 7-under 68-70-68-206. The Bluffton, S.C., native carded a bogey-free 3-under 68 final round on Tuesday to hold off Wesley Hunter (69-70-68-207) of Spring Hill College by a stroke.
Redshirt junior Ryan Benton (74-64-71-209) finished third, junior Blake Messer (72-70-72-214) finished fourth and freshman Mark Lawrence (71-73-74-218) finished seventh.
"On the Falls Course in the individual tournament, Trace Crowe played fantastic and picked up a big win," Clinard said. "He's a big time talent with a bright future in the game. Ryan Benton had a nice little 64 in the second round that was impressive.
"I'm proud of all nine players, and it shows the depth we have as a program. They are all pushing each other in the chase for excellence."
The Tigers will play host March 6-8 at the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner held at the Grand National Lake Course in Opelika, Ala.
Live-scoring for the tournament can be found on www.golfstat.com.