ATLANTA – The fourth-seeded Auburn men's golf team completed its quest for the 2018 East Lake Cup with a dominating 4-1 victory over third-seeded Alabama Wednesday afternoon at East Lake GC.
The Tigers earned points on the final match of the tournament through wins by Trace Crowe, Brandon Mancheno, Wells Padgett and Jacob Solomon.
"The guys earned it to be here as I kept reminding them this week," head coach Nick Clinard said. "They didn't need any motivation to come in here and try to compete against some of the game's best. Any time you're playing Alabama, you know they've got great players. It feels good, no doubt about it."
Auburn led three of its matches from start to finish and has now won six of its last seven contests during match play events.
"We wanted this win badly," Mancheno said. "I think all of us wanted to not let Alabama get one point today. I thought we did pretty well."
Crowe secured the first point for the Tigers as he defeated Alabama's Davis Riley, 2&1. Crowe fell behind by as much as a two-hole deficit on the front nine, but rallied to tie it up on the 11th hole. The senior won the 14th and 15th holes with a birdie and par, respectively, before clinching the point on the 17th.
Solomon matched his teammate's result with a 2&1 victory over Alabama's Davis Shore. Solomon won the first hole with a birdie and maintained the lead for the entire match, extending his margin to as high as three on the 13th hole, before earning the point on the 17th hole.
The result was decided on the green of hole No. 16 as Mancheno secured a 3&2 win against Alabama's Prescott Butler. The sophomore took advantage of a bogey by Butler and buried his par putt to seal the victory.
Padgett earned a 4&3 win vs. Alabama's Frankie Capan for Auburn's final tally. Much to the tune of the second group, Padgett won the par-5 first hole with an eagle and never looked back. The sophomore dominated from start to finish, even increasing his lead by as much as five on the 10th hole, before racking up the last point with a par in hole No. 15.
Despite finishing in fourth after the one round of stroke play, the Tigers took down two top-5 opponents during match play in No. 3 Duke and No. 4 Alabama to win its first East Lake Cup.
"There is a lot of grit in this group," Clinard said. "They are very resilient and have worked really hard this fall. We played a lot of different guys all fall, but these five came together as a team in this event and played well."
With the conclusion of the fall season, Auburn will break until it starts up its spring season Feb. 7-9 in Waikoloa, Hawaii for the Amer Ari Invitational.
Match Play Results - Finals
(4) Auburn 4, (3) Alabama 1
Trace Crowe (AU) def. Davis Riley (UA), 2&1
Jacob Solomon (AU) def. Davis Shore (UA), 2&1
Brandon Mancheno (AU) def. Prescott Butler (UA), 3&2
Wilson Furr (UA) def. Jovan Rebula (AU), 2&1
Wells Padgett (AU) def. Frankie Capan (UA), 4&3