AUBURN, Ala. – No. 1 Auburn men's golf will kickstart its spring championship season Wednesday at the Amer Ari Invitational hosted by the Hapuna Golf Course in Waikoloa, Hawai'i.
The tournament is slated to run from Feb. 8-10 and will feature a field of 20 teams, including six that are ranked inside the top 10.
"We're really excited to be playing in Amer Ari once again this year," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "It's a fantastic venue that'll give us some truly invaluable experience as we begin the spring season. The level of competition is extremely high. These teams are the types of programs you see as national championship contenders year in and year out, ourselves included. Finishing at the top of the leaderboard when it's all said and done will certainly be challenging, but I have no doubt in my mind that if these six step out onto the course and play smart, Auburn golf, they can hang with anybody out there."
Suiting up for the Tigers this week will Carson Bacha, J.M. Butler, Reed Lotter, Brendan Valdes, Evan Vo and Alex Vogelsong. Bacha, Butler, Valdes, Vo and Vogelsong will all be making their second career appearance at the event while Lotter is set to make his collegiate debut.
Leading the lineup from the one spot will be Vogelsong. The senior capped an impressive fall with a top-five finish at the Isleworth Collegiate, shooting 6-under to push the team to its third championship of the year.
Vogelsong currently stands fifth in the program record book for career scoring average, amassing a 71.65 shots per round clip over his tenure on The Plains.
Second to tee off in the Orange & Blue will be Bacha. The junior tore through the fall competition with a trio of top-15 outings and capped the year with an individual title at the Orlando International Amateur. The amateur victory signified the third for Bacha over a six-month span.
Auburn golf's 33rd All-American, Butler, also looks to make waves and build off an even par performance at the Amer Ari a year ago. Through the first half of the season, the junior has tallied a pair of top-3 performances, nearing victory at the Marquette Invitational and the Isleworth Collegiate.
Like Vogelsong, the Louisville, Kentucky product has catapulted his name into school history standing tied for fifth for career rounds in the 60s (26) and second for career scoring average (71.08).
Having arguably the most successful start to the year, Valdes is the fourth Tiger golfer, returning to the links this week as the No. 28-ranked player in collegiate golf.
The sophomore played to top-10 finishes in three of four fall events to accumulate a 227-31-8 head-to-head record. He closed out the year with the first individual win of his college career at Isleworth to receive a nod as the conference golfer of the week.
"All of us are very excited to finally get our spring season started," Valdes said, "especially when you get to play in Hawai'i. We know that we've got one of, if not the best teams in the nation, and this is a great place to prove it."
The final man gearing up to play for the team this week is the Tigers' yearly scoring leader (68.33) in Vo. Like the rest of the roster, Vo's opening half of the season was nothing but spectacular, notching a pair of top-10 outings and a match play defeat of the reigning U.S. Amateur Champion and SEC Player of the Year, Sam Bennett.
In just 15 rounds of action, Vo has shot seven rounds in the 60s, surpassing his total of six over 31 outings in his freshman campaign.
True freshman Lotter will see his first taste of collegiate competition as Auburn's individual player this week. As a junior golfer, the Savannah, Georgia native was tabbed as a top-30 recruit by Golfweek.
This year's appearance will at Amer Ari be the 10th for Auburn since 2013. The team looks to rebound from an 11th-place showing in 2022 and hopes to match or beat the program's benchmark, a second-place finish in 2019.
In order to capture top honors for a fourth time this season, the Tigers will need to edge out a field consisting of No. 3 Arizona State, No. 10 Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Hawaii-Hilo, No. 5 North Carolina, No. 16 Oklahoma State, No. 24 Oregon, Oregon State, Osaka Gakuin, Pacific, No. 15 Pepperdine, San Jose State, No. 6 Stanford, TCU, No. 19 Texas, No. 4 Texas Tech, UC Davis, UCLA and RV Washington.
All teams will begin round one in a shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. CT. Auburn will tee off from the first three holes paired alongside Hawaii-Hilo, Georgia Tech and Washington.
Live scoring for all of the Amer Ari Invitational can be found at Golfstat.com.
