Nov. 17, 2016
AUBURN, Ala. - The Auburn men's golf team had a very successful fall portion of the 2016-17 season, winning two out of four tournaments played and finishing runner-up in another.
After a runner-up finish at the Carpet Capital Collegiate, the Tigers won back to back tournaments at the Inverness Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio, and the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate in Vestavia Hills, Ala., leading to a No. 2 ranking in the country. Auburn has now won 23 tournaments under head coach Nick Clinard while compiling 26 individual champions. The Tigers also finished 10th at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate in which 10 of the 17 teams were ranked in the top-25.
"The team played very well this fall and it was nice to pick up two wins," Clinard said. "We were very competitive and look forward to competing next spring for more championships."
Senior Will Long has played extremely well thus far for the Tigers, finishing in the top nine in each event including three top five finishes. The Gastonia, N.C., native finished third at the Inverness Intercollegiate at 3-under 73-68-69-210, t-4th at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate at 6-under 68-74-68-210, t-5th at the Jerry Pate National at 2-under 70-70-68-208 and t-9th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate at 7-under 68-72-69-209.
Long, who is ranked No. 4 nationally by Golfstat, was recently ranked fourth in the fall Arnold Palmer Cup ranking. It is the second-straight season he has found himself in the top 10 of the fall ranking. He leads the team with a scoring average of 69.75.
Senior Ryan Benton began his senior campaign with a bang, tying for runner-up at the Carpet Capital Collegiate at 10-under 68-67-71-206 and t-4th at the Inverness Intercollegiate at 2-under 69-72-70-211. He is averaging 71.81 strokes per round.
Freshman Jovan Rebula, a native of George, South Africa, tied for 25th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate, the first tournament of his collegiate career and finished eighth at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate with 68-68-73-209.
Rebula, who ranks fourth on the team with a 71.78 stroke average, also participated in the Eisenhower Trophy at the prestigious World Amateur Team Championships as a member of Team South Africa in September.
All-SEC senior Matt Gilchrest tied for fourth at the Inverness Intercollegiate at 2-under 64-72-75-211. His opening round 64 tied his own 2015 Amer Ari Invitational second round along with Stuart Moore at the 2006 Billy Hitchcock Intercollegiate and Michael Johnson at the 2015 Primland Collegiate for the second-lowest round in school history. Kyle Kopsick holds the record at 9-under 63 at the 2009 Gary Koch Invitational.
Gilchrest, a Southlake, Texas, native, also t-17th at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate. He is averaging 71.92 strokes per round.
Sophomore Trace Crowe ranks second on the team at 71.33 strokes per round. The Bluffton, S.C., native has played in two tournaments, t-11th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate at 6-under 68-75-67-210 and t-26th at the Inverness Intercollegiate.
Sophomore Jacob Solomon ranks third in stroke average with a mark of 71.67. The Dublin, Calif., native finished in the top 20 in both events played, t-16th at the Inverness Intercollegiate and t-19th at the Carpet Capital Collegiate.
Junior All-America Ben Schlottman tied for ninth at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate at even par-70-71-69-210 and is averaging 72.00 strokes per round after competing in 3 of the 4 tournaments for the Tigers.
The Tigers are currently in their off-season preparation for the grueling spring portion of the schedule, beginning with the Amer Ari Invitational at the Kings' Course in Waikoloa, Hawaii, Feb. 2-4.