WAIKOLOA, Hawai'i – Auburn men's golf wrapped up round one of play at the Amer Ari Invitational in a tie for 12th place, shooting 284, 4-under-par through the first 18 holes on Thursday. Freshman Brendan Valdes led the lineup with a 68, 4-under-par performance of his own to conclude day one just outside the top-10 on the individual leaderboard.
Valdes bested his previous single-round low of 69 after a bogey-free performance with birdies on holes three, eight, 12 and 14.
Auburn's individual performer, Austin Coggin, also pieced together a career-best performance, shooting 67, 5-under-par to cement himself in a seven-way tie for sixth place.
Junior C.J. Easley and freshman Evan Vo also fired rounds below par. Easley chipped in a 69, 3-under-par first round while Vo checked in at 71, 1-under.
"Today threw a bit of a challenge at us, but I am impressed with the way we responded and the resilience that our guys showed," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "Tomorrow is about making those necessary adjustments and climbing the ladder from where we ended up today. Our team is young, but we are more than capable of making some noise moving forward."
UP NEXT
Auburn tees off round two in another shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. CT on holes four through seven. The Tigers will be paired with Oklahoma State, UC Davis and Georgia Tech in Friday's action at Hapuna Golf Club.
Live scoring for the second round will continue to be broadcast at GolfStat.com.
| Placement | Golfer | R1 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| T6 | Austin Coggin | 67 (-5) | 67 (-5) |
| T13 | Brendan Valdes | 68 (-4) | 68 (-4) |
| T23 | C.J. Easley | 69 (-3) | 69 (-3) |
| T50 | Evan Vo | 71 (-1) | 71 (-1) |
| T96 | J.M. Butler | 76 (+4) | 76 (+4) |
| T110 | Carson Bacha | 81 (+9) | 81 (+9) |
| T12 | TEAM | 284 (-4) | 284 (-4) |