April 8, 2018
AUBURN, Ala. - The 11th-ranked Auburn men's golf team will put a cap on the regular season this week when it travels to Gastonia, N.C. for the Gary Koch Invitational, April 9-10. The tournament is held at Gaston Country Club - a par-72, 7,042-yard course.
The Tigers are joined by tournament hosts Kentucky, as well as No. 17 Florida State, Coastal Carolina, Gardner-Webb, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, Jacksonville State, Lamar, ULM, Ole Miss, Virginia and Western Carolina.
Auburn won the tournament last season with an 18-under 846 at head coach Nick Clinard's hometown course.
"The guys are looking forward to defending our title at the 2018 Gary Koch Invitational," Clinard said. "Gaston CC has some of the best greens we see all year and it's an outstanding club. It's a big week for our guys in solidifying their spots in the lineup for the upcoming SEC Championship. Our team is very competitive and they continue to push each other to be in top form. It's a homecoming for me as it's the course I grew up at, so I'm excited to see some old friends."
The lineup for the Tigers will feature senior Ben Schlottman, juniors Trace Crowe, Ryan Knop and Jacob Solomon, sophomore Jovan Rebula and freshmen Brandon Mancheno and Wells Padgett.
Schlottman has produced 10 rounds under par this season and brings a round average of 70.73 to the annual tournament in North Carolina.
Crowe, who won medalist honors at the Gary Koch Invitational last season with a 9-under 207, has produced nine rounds below par and touts a 71.74 average round.
Knop and Solomon have racked up five and four rounds below par, respectively, and are close in average score with Knop at 71.72 and Solomon at 71.84.
Rebula, the No. 46 golfer in the country, has a team-best 15 rounds under par this season and boasts a 70.78 per round total.
Mancheno is Auburn's top ranked golfer at No. 25. He has 14 rounds below par and holds the lowest average score on the team at 70.40.
Padgett has secured eight rounds below par this campaign and averages 71.92 strokes per round.
The Tigers will tee-off with Florida State and Kentucky, beginning at 7:55 a.m. CT. Live scoring is available on Golfstat.com.