AUBURN Ala. – The Auburn men's golf team kicks off its spring season Sunday at the Dorado Beach Collegiate in Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico.
Hosted by TPC Dorado Beach, the tournament will run Feb. 26-28 and play host to 14 teams. To capture its fourth team championship of the year, No. 2 Auburn will need to outplay Army West Point, Augusta, Ball State, Boston College, RV Cincinnati, Drexel, RV Duke, Kennesaw State, Old Dominion, Rutgers, UNCG, No. 12 Virginia and West Virginia.
"It's no secret that we're all really excited to get back out there and compete as a team again, especially with how we were unable to play a few weeks ago at the Amer Ari," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "We've got some serious battles going on right now for spots in the lineup. All 10 of our guys are incredibly talented and work so hard, so each guy is really having to earn his position. This tournament is going to be a great opportunity for a lot of them to show us what they are made of and how much they want it."
While the Tigers' lineup has yet to be determined, seven players have made the trek to Puerto Rico. Senior Alex Vogelsong, juniors Carson Bacha, J.M. Butler and Ryan Eshleman, sophomores Brendan Valdes and Evan Vo and freshman Reed Lotter will all be vying for five spots in the team lineup. The remaining two players will compete as individuals.
Vogelsong cruises into Dorado Beach looking to build off a fifth-place outing at the Isleworth Collegiate in October to close out the fall. With nearly 90 career rounds under his belt, the Palm City, Florida native stands as the No. 5 all-time scorer in program history with a 71.65 shots per round average.
"Can't wait to get started this week," Vogelsong said. "It's a privilege to be down at such an amazing venue for this tournament, and I love how our team is looking. Everyone's playing great golf, and I know we're all ready to get off to a strong start in round one tomorrow."
Known to do heavy damage, Auburn's junior class has done just that through the first half of the season. The threesome of Bacha, Butler and Eshleman have combined for 141 birdies, 16 rounds in the 60s and eight top-20 finishes in just 39 frames of work.
The Tiger's dynamic sophomore duo of Valdes and Vo also look to make waves following national recognition from the Arnold Palmer Cup as both men as represented in the United States rankings at No. 13 and No. 25, respectively. Through the fall state, the pair lead the roster for scoring average with Vo carding a 68.33 clip and Valdes checking in at 68.92.
"All seven of us have been playing well and are eager to start our spring season out on the right note," Vo said. "This course has some tricky tee shots, so we have to stay committed to our decisions, play smart and make some birdies."
Lotter will see action in the second event of his collegiate career after earning a seventh-place finish at The Prestige Individual less than a week ago. In his first set of 18 holes, the rookie carded a five-under 67 to shoot to the top of the leaderboard, a score that had not been duplicated by an Auburn freshman since Jake Mondy in 2012. Lotter closed the week with a 217 (+1) to seal the top-10 performance.
Live scoring for the entirety of the Dorado Beach Collegiate can be found at GolfStat.com.
