AWENDAW, S.C. – Led by freshman Brendan Valdes' 2-under first round, Auburn men's golf sits tied for fifth on the team leaderboard following the conclusion of Sunday's opener at the Hootie Intercollegiate.
Valdes turned in a 70 to lead the Tigers to a 5-under, 283 through 18 holes. Auburn's individual player, Carson Bacha, matched Valdes with a 70 of his own, tying his career low for a solo round.
"Most of the day, we played some excellent golf in some challenging, windy conditions," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "We just needed to make more putts, but we will definitely do that these next two days."
The Tigers picked up their final three team scores of the day via J.M. Butler, Evan Vo and Alex Vogelsong, all of whom carded 1-under, 71s to open the tournament. Junior Vogelsong showed the most consistency of the group, bogeying just once and shooting par on 15 holes to lead the field.
Junior Austin Coggin followed closely behind with a 1-over, 73 day.
Scores throughout the round were tight as only four strokes separate the fourth and eighth place teams, and only three strokes account for the difference between sixth and 26th on the individual leaderboard.
Auburn will be paired with NC State and Missouri for Monday's round two. Coggin will kickstart action for the Tigers on the first hole at 8:45 a.m. CT.
| Placement | Golfer | R1 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| T12 | Brendan Valdes | 70 (-2) | 70 (-2) |
| T12 | Carson Bacha (I) | 70 (-2) | 70 (-2) |
| T26 | J.M. Butler | 71 (-1) | 71 (-1) |
| T26 | Evan Vo | 71 (-1) | 71 (-1) |
| T26 | Alex Vogelsong | 71 (-1) | 71 (-1) |
| T56 | Austin Coggin | 73 (+1) | 73 (+1) |
| T5 | TEAM | 283 (-5) | 283 (-5) |