AUBURN, Ala. –Fresh off a win at its home tournament, No. 5 Auburn men's golf will make the trek to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for the 22nd annual General Hackler Championship March 13-14 at The Dunes Club.
"We're really excited to be headed to the Hackler once more this year," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "Obviously, we're riding some great momentum after our performance last week, and we're going to capitalize off that. The pieces are beginning to fall into place and we're starting play our brand of golf again. It's really exciting to see because this group has the potential to be extremely dangerous when they're at the top of their game."
Auburn will make its third appearance in program history at the Hackler this week after previously competing in the 2011 and 2022 editions of the event. At last year's Hackler, the team carded a 25-under (839) to top the competition and collect its first win of the year. A victory for the Tigers this week would be the fifth of the season, tying the school record set during the 1996-97 cycle.
Three members from 2022's winning lineup will make the return trip to Myrtle Beach this week. Playing The Dunes Club once more are senior Alex Vogelsong, junior J.M. Butler and sophomore Brendan Valdes.
Butler and Vogelsong each finished in the top-10 at 206 (-10) and 211 (-5), respectively, while Valdes fired a 217 (+1) to land tied for 32nd on the leaderboard.
Joining the returners this year are junior Ryan Eshleman, freshman Reed Lotter and the reigning SEC Player of the Week, Carson Bacha.
"We are all working really hard and have great plans that we are focusing on," Bacha said. "It's a ton of fun going out and playing not only against each other but for each other, as well as for the university and our families. Each week that we get to go out and compete is a blessing."
Bacha was rewarded by the league office after shooting 205 (-11) to capture his first collegiate win as an individual at last week's Tiger Invitational.
The junior from York, Pennsylvania will head the lineup from the one spot to begin the first day. In order, following Bacha will be Butler, Valdes, Lotter and Eshleman. Vogelsong will be the sixth man and compete as an individual for the tournament.
Playing alongside the Tigers this week will be Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, RV Duke, East Carolina, ETSU, Furman, Kent State, Liberty, RV Louisville, NC State, RV North Florida, South Carolina and No. 16 Virginia.
All teams are scheduled to play 36 holes Monday before concluding with the final 18 Tuesday. Round one will commence with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. CT. Auburn's lineup will start on holes 2-4, golfing alongside South Carolina, Coastal Carolina and Duke.
Live scoring for the General Hackler Championship can be found at Golfstat.com. More information on General James F. Hackler can be found here.
