AUBURN, Ala. – After a 3-month break, the No. 11 Auburn men's golf team returns to the course Feb. 6-8 for the Amer Ari Invitational. The Tigers are set to tee off the spring season at the par-72 Waikoloa Kings' Course in Waikoloa, Hawai'i.
Auburn rides into the last half of the season on some momentum having captured the team title at the Kiawah Classic in the final tournament of the fall.
"I thought we ended the fall on a very good note," head coach Nick Clinard said. "For the team to go out to the Kiawah Classic, shoot 31-under and dominate the field was nice to see. It really helped us carry some mojo into the offseason. I feel really good about our movement into the spring. We've got a very talented and competitive group."
The Tigers put in the work during the 3-month break and now shift their focus to competing at a high level in the spring.
"I think the fall is a good time to work on our games," Brandon Mancheno said. "We want to peak in the spring and try to get better as the year goes on."
Auburn will be tested right out of the gate as it is one of six ranked teams in a 20-team field at the Amer Ari Invitational, joining No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 3 Texas Tech, No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 10 Texas and No. 17 Arizona State.
Colorado, CSUN, Hawai'i, Hawai'i-Hilo, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Oregon State, Osaka Gakuin (Japan), Pacific, San Jose State, Stanford, TCU, UC Davis and USC round out the full field.
In last season's installment, the Tigers finished second at 37-under (279-274-274--827) on the 7,074-yard course. Auburn logged four top-20 finishes individually, including two inside the top 10.
The Tigers' lineup for the 3-round tournament includes Andrew Kozan, Wells Padgett, Jovan Rebula, Alex Vogelsong and Mancheno with Graysen Huff competing as an individual.
Auburn is paired with Arizona State, TCU and UC Davis for the first round with a shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. CT off the 10th, 11th and 12th holes. Live scoring is available on Golfstat.com.