OPELIKA, Ala. – Auburn men's golf freshman Brendan Valdes pieced together three stellar rounds over the course of two days to end play second on the individual leaderboard at the 2022 Tiger Invitational with an 11-under, 205 tally.
Thanks to a 4-under, 68 final round on Monday, Valdes not only set career bests for 18, 36 and 54 holes, but the Orlando, Florida native also broke the invitational record for lowest overall score by an Auburn golfer. The previous record of 10-under, 206 was set by Ben Schlottman during the 2018 season.
As a team, the Tigers posted a 19-under, 845 score, the fourth-lowest total for Auburn in the ten-year history of the event. The Tigers were aided by a round's best 7-under, 281 in the final stanza of play.
"I'm extremely proud of our guys," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "What can you say about our depth? Our teams came out here and showed a lot of grit and resilience and both ended up finishing in the top three."
The Auburn squads finished second and third, respectively. Auburn's second lineup surged in the final two rounds of play to finish at 2-under, 862. Both teams were edged out by Florida Gulf Coast, who shot 32-under, 832 to win this year's tournament crown.
Frankie Capan III of FGCU won the individual title with a three-round score of 19-under, 197.
"There's nothing to hang our heads about," Clinard said. "We're going to keep getting better. Sometimes in sports, you just get beat, and we got beat this week, but we're starting to play some really good golf and we're ready to attack our next event head on."
Of the Tigers' 10 golfers, eight finished inside the top-25. On the heels of Valdes were sophomore J.M. Butler and junior Alex Vogelsong. Both men finished tied for seventh with 2-under, 214 performances. For Butler, the finish marks his fourth top-10 outing of the season.
Just a stroke behind at 1-under, 215 was the trio of C.J. Easley, Ryan Eshleman and Carson Bacha. The group combined for 41 birdies and a 71.67 scoring average. Bacha also set career lows for 18, 36 and 54 holes.
Freshman Evan Vo and junior Austin Coggin rounded out the team's top-25 placements. Vo shot par in each round to finish with a 216 while Coggin finished 1-over at 217.
Sophomore Max Johnson shot 3-over, 219 to finish tied for 28th in the field of 87 competitors in his collegiate debut. Junior Hal Dove improved upon his outing at last year's Tiger Invitational by 24 strokes.
UP NEXT
The Tigers head to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to face off in the General Hackler Championship March 13-14.
| Placement | Golfer | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Brendan Valdes | 67 (-5) | 70 (-2) | 68 (-4) | 205 (-11) |
| T7 | J.M. Butler | 72 (E) | 68 (-4) | 74 (+2) | 214 (-2) |
| T12 | C.J. Easley | 73 (+1) | 73 (+1) | 69 (-3) | 215 (-1) |
| T18 | Evan Vo | 72 (E) | 72 (E) | 72 (E) | 216 (E) |
| T20 | Austin Coggin | 70 (-2) | 75 (+3) | 72 (E) | 217 (+1) |
| 2 | AUBURN | 281 (-7) | 283 (-5) | 281 (-7) | 845 (-19) |
| Placement | Golfer | R1 | R2 | R3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T7 | Alex Vogelsong | 72 (E) | 68 (-4) | 74 (+2) | 214 (-2) |
| T12 | Ryan Eshleman | 74 (+2) | 70 (-2) | 71 (-1) | 215 (-1) |
| T12 | Carson Bacha | 74 (+2) | 70 (-2) | 71 (-1) | 215 (-1) |
| T28 | Max Johnson | 73 (+1) | 74 (+2) | 72 (E) | 219 (+3) |
| T55 | Hal Dove | 76 (+4) | 73 (+1) | 78 (+6) | 227 (+11) |
| 3 | AUBURN (B) | 293 (+5) | 281 (-7) | 288 (E) | 862 (-2) |
Team Leaderboard
1. Florida Gulf Coast, 832 (-32)
2. Auburn, 845 (-19)
3. Auburn (B), 862 (-2)
4. Southern Miss, 863 (-1)
5. UNC-Wilmington, 870, (+6)
6. Louisiana Tech, 871 (+7)
T7. Missouri, 874 (+10)
T7. South Alabama, 874 (+10)
T9. Georgia State, 877 (+13)
T9. Wichita State, 877 (+13)
T11. Florida Atlantic, 880 (+16)
T11. James Madison, 880 (+16)
13. Lamar, 894 (+30)
T14. North Alabama, 901 (+37)
T14. Western Kentucky, 901 (+37)
16. Kennesaw State, 907 (+43)