Sept. 20, 2016
TOLEDO, Ohio - No. 11 Auburn men's golf won the Inverness Intercollegiate carding a 2-under 282 for a final score of 9-under 843 at the Inverness Club on Tuesday.
The Tigers (280-281-282-843) defeated No. 23 Duke (277-281-288-846) by three strokes.
"The team played great and our seniors led the way," head coach Nick Clinard said. "It is their time and they are proving that they belong. It was a major championship golf course and indeed a true test of patience all week."
Senior Will Long finished third at 3-under 73-68-69-210, one stroke behind co-medalists Nick Carlson of Michigan (69-73-67-209) and Jake Shuman of Duke (70-71-68-209). The Gastonia, N.C., native had four birdies on the back nine in the final round on Nos. 13, 15, 17 and 18.
Seniors Matt Gilchrest and Ryan Benton were part of a 5-way tie for fourth a shot back at 2-under. Gilchrest (64-72-75-211), a two-time All-SEC performer, held the lead after the first two rounds after carding the second-lowest round in school history with his opening round 64.
Benton (69-72-70-211), a native of Dothan, Ala., closed out his tournament with a 1-under 70 final round with birdies on Nos. 5, 6, 13 and 18.
PING All-Southeastern Region sophomore Jacob Solomon, playing as an individual, t-16th at 2-over 72-70-73-215. The Dublin, Calif., native had four birdies on Nos. 3, 8, 10 and 11 in the final round.
All-American junior Ben Schlottman (77-71-69-217) t-23rd and sophomore Trace Crowe (74-70-74-218) t-26th.
"We are 11 strong as we have great players competing this week at Inverness and at home," Clinard said. "I'm impressed with our skill set, work ethic and most importantly, our positive attitudes daily. This team of 11 is fun to coach for both associate head coach Corey Maggard and myself."
Michigan finished third at 10-over 270-862 followed by Michigan State (288-865), Penn State (285-866), Minnesota (290-873), No. 21 Virginia (284-873), Bowling Green (291-876), Saint Mary's (CA) (284-876) and host Toledo (297-887).
Ball State finished 11th at 292-888 followed by Miami (OH) (291-904) and Austin Peay (311-917).
The Tigers return to action Oct. 3-4 at the Jerry Pate National at Old Overton in Vestavia Hills, Ala. Live scoring for the event will be available through Golfstat.