April 10, 2018
GASTONIA, N.C. -- Following up his record-tying performance on the opening day of the Gary Koch Invitational, Auburn junior Trace Crowe sealed the top spot and earned medalist honors for the third time in his career with a 4-under 68 to finish the tournament 16-under (69-63-68--200).
"I'm extremely happy for Trace as he captured his third win of his collegiate career," head coach Nick Clinard said. "He drove the ball beautifully and did a nice job managing his emotions and competing this week. He's a talented young man that we have high expectations for."
Crowe tied for the team lead with five birdies in his final round at Gaston Country Club, including three on the front nine.
As a team, the No. 11 Tigers finished second in the 54-hole invitational as they carded a 4-under 284 to finish the tournament 31-under (276-273-284--833). Auburn fell to host Kentucky by four strokes.
"It was a disappointing day as we just didn't have our best stuff," Clinard said. "Our scoring clubs were poor as was our putting inside 10 feet. We fought hard and just couldn't get much going as a team. We are now looking forward to postseason and we will be ready. Our team is outstanding and we've had another fantastic season."
Crowe was joined in the top 10 by four of his teammates in the final leaderboard. Wells Padgett tied for third with an even-par 72 in his final circuit of the course to end at 7-under (69-68-72--209).
Jovan Rebula finished in a four-way tied for sixth as he also ended with an even-par 72 to cap his tournament at 6-under (70-68-72--210).
Ben Schlottman and Jacob Solomon tied for 10th overall at 5-under. Schlottman carded a 72 (67-72-72--211), while Solomon capped his day with a 3-under 69 (70-72-69--211).
Ryan Knop was just one stroke behind and finished in a tie for 14th. He ended the day with an even-par 72 to close the tournament at 4-under (70-70-72--212).
Brandon Mancheno rounded out the Auburn contingent tied for 26th with a 1-over 73 to end his three circuits at 1-over (71-73-73--217).
Kentucky won the event at 35-under (278-277-274--829), followed by Auburn, Ole Miss (276-297-280--853), No. 17 Florida State (295-277-286--858), Virginia (293-286-285--864), Georgia Southern (298-284-288--870), Jacksonville (293-291-287--871), Coastal Carolina (291-298-293--882), Gardner-Webb (295-290-297--882), ULM (295-288-301--884), Jacksonville State (304-290-296--890), Lamar (305-298-294--897) and Western Carolina (303-291-304--898).
The Tigers return to the course April 26-29 for the SEC Championship at St. Simons Island, Ga. Tee times will be released at a later date. Coverage will be available all week on the SEC Network and ESPN app.
Team Scores
1: Kentucky -35 (278-277-274--829)
2: Auburn -31 (276-273-284--833)
3: Ole Miss -11 (276-297-280--853)
4: Florida State -6 (295-277-286--858)
5: Virginia E (293-286-285--864)
6: Georgia Southern +6 (298-284-288--870)
7: Jacksonville +7 (293-291-287--871)
t-8: Coastal Carolina +18 (291-298-293--882)
t-8: Gardner-Webb +18 (295-290-297--882)
10: ULM +20 (295-288-301--884)
11: Jacksonville State +26 (304-290-296--890)
12: Lamar +33 (305-298-294--897)
13: Western Carolina +34 (303-291-304--898)
Auburn Individuals
1: Trace Crowe (69-63-68--200)
t-3: Wells Padgett (69-68-72--209)
t-6: Jovan Rebula (70-68-72--210)
t-10: Ben Schlottman (67-72-72--211)
t-10: Jacob Solomon (70-72-69--211)
t-14: Ryan Knop (70-70-72--212)
t-26: Brandon Mancheno (71-73-73--217)