April 28, 2018
ST. SIMONS ISLAND, Ga. - The fourth-seeded Auburn men's golf team defeated fifth-seeded Arkansas in the quarterfinals of match play at the 2018 Southeastern Conference Championship, 3-2, Saturday morning.
The Tigers move on to the semifinals where top-seeded LSU awaits. Matches are set to begin at 12 p.m. CT.
Junior Trace Crowe and freshmen Brandon Mancheno and Wells Padgett picked up the three wins for Auburn, who started from the 10th tee. Sophomores Ryan Knop and Jovan Rebula suffered defeat.
Crowe earned the first victory of the day after he went the distance 1-up over Arkansas' Luis Garza. The Bluffton, S.C. native won two holes on the back nine and never looked back, leading for 16 of the 18 holes played. He sealed the result with a par on the final hole.
Mancheno had a back-and-forth battle with Razorback Alvaro Ortiz as the two golfers were tied through nine. Mancheno then took the lead on the first hole of the front nine and iced the match away with a par on the fifth hole, while Ortiz bogeyed.
What proved to be the deciding result was Padgett's three-stroke victory over Arkansas' William Buhl. Padgett trailed after the opening hole, but outdueled Buhl by four across the rest of the 15 holes. The match concluded on the seventh hole when Padgett sank a par putt to best Buhl's bogey and put him up by three with two to go.
Auburn is set to face LSU at 12 p.m. CT. Live coverage can be found on SEC Network+, beginning at 3 p.m. CT. The victor will face the winner of the Alabama-Florida semifinal Sunday.
2018 SEC Championship Quarterfinals - Match Play
(4) Auburn 3, (5) Arkansas 2
Tyson Reeder (ARK) def. Jovan Rebula (AU), 1-up (19)
Trace Crowe (AU) def. Luis Garza (ARK), 1-up
Brandon Mancheno (AU) def. Alvaro Ortiz (ARK), 2 & 1
Mason Overstreet (ARK) def. Ryan Knop (AU), 3 & 2
Wells Padgett (AU) def. William Buhl (ARK), 3 & 2
Quarterfinal Matches
(1) LSU def. (8) Texas A&M, 3-0-2
(4) Auburn def. (5) Arkansas, 3-2
(6) Alabama def. (2) Vanderbilt, 3-2
(2) Florida def. (7) Ole Miss, 3-2
Semifinal Matches
(1) LSU vs. (4) Auburn - 12 p.m. CT
(2) Florida vs. (6) Alabama - 12 p.m. CT