WINDERMERE, Fla. – The No. 20 Auburn men's golf team capped another successful tournament with a strong finish at the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational Tuesday afternoon. The Tigers fired a 6-under 282 to earn a tie for second with No. 18 Arizona State at 11-under (284-287-282--853) at Isleworth CC.
Sophomore Brandon Mancheno earned runner-up honors with a 3-under 69 in his final tour of the par-72 course. The Jacksonville, Fla. native shot three consecutive rounds in the 60s to finish at 12-under (67-68-69--204).
"The guys played really well," head coach Nick Clinard said. "Hats off to Brandon because he played great. He had a fantastic week and has worked really hard on his game. He's improved a lot since August when he got back to school."
Mancheno racked up five birdies in the third round to bring his total to 17 on the week.
The rest of the Auburn lineup - Graysen Huff, Andrew Kozan, Jovan Rebula and Jacob Solomon - all finished in the top 50 on the individual leaderboard.
"Graysen played two really good rounds for us and Andrew played two great rounds for us, too," Clinard added. "Those guys really stepped up and it was fun to see from a coach's perspective. Jovan was back to his old self today and he's a big-time player. Jacob continued his strong fall with some good scores this week."
Kozan and Solomon were part of a 7-way tie for 29th at 4-over. Kozan carded a 1-under 71 to end his tournament (79-70-71--220), while Solomon produced a score of even par in his final circuit (71-77-72--220). The duo combined for nine birdies across 36 holes on Tuesday.
Huff tied for 38th overall at 6-over (72-72-78--222). The junior had nine birdies on the week, including two in the final round at Isleworth CC.
Despite a challenging start to the tournament, Rebula recovered with the second-lowest round by a Tiger on Tuesday with a 2-under 70. The junior capped the invitational in a tie for 46th at 7-over (74-79-70--223).
No. 13 Vanderbilt won the tournament at 31-under (833), followed by Auburn and Arizona State (853), Texas Tech (857), No. 22 LSU (862), No. 10 Texas (863), West Virginia (864), No. 25 Cal (870), Florida (874), No. 9 Illinois and UCF (877), No. 24 South Carolina (879), North Texas (891), Augusta (893) and Washington (896).
"It was a good showing for us and we're looking forward to playing in the East Lake Cup and getting into the offseason," Clinard said.
The Tigers take part in the prestigious East Lake Cup, Oct. 29-31, at East Lake CC in Atlanta, Ga. Auburn qualified for the tournament by advancing to the semifinals of match play at the 2018 NCAA Championship.
The Tigers are joined by No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Duke and No. 4 Alabama. The four teams will compete in individual stroke play competition to determine the individual champion and to seed for two days of match play competition. It will be broadcast live on Golf Channel.
Team Scores
1. Vanderbilt: -31 (276-282-275--833)
T-2. Auburn: -11 (284-287-282--853)
T-2. Arizona State: -11 (287-288-278--853)
4. Texas Tech: -7 (285-281-291--857)
5. LSU: -2 (292-286-284--862)
6. Texas: -1 (288-288-287--863)
7. West Virginia: E (288-288-288--864)
8. Cal: +6 (284-293-293--870)
9. Florida: +10 (286-299-289--874)
T-10. UCF: +13 (296-297-284--877)
T-10. Illinois: +13 (286-293-298--877)
12. South Carolina: +15 (295-298-286--879)
13. North Texas: +27 (304-299-288--891)
14. Augusta: +29 (293-302-298--893)
15. Washington: +32 (287-308-301--896)
Auburn Individuals
2. Brandon Mancheno: -12 (67-68-69--204)
T-29. Jacob Solomon: +4 (71-77-72--220)
T-29. Andrew Kozan: +4 (79-70-71--220)
T-38. Graysen Huff: +6 (72-72-78--222)
T-46. Jovan Rebula: +7 (74-79-70--223)
Auburn caps Tavistock Collegiate Invitational with strong finish
