AUBURN, Ala. – Returning to The Plains for the only home action of the regular season, No. 7 Auburn is set to host the 11th annual Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner March 5-7 at Grand National in Opelika.
"This week is going to be fun," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "It's always great when you get to play at home and sleep in your own bed. There's no better opportunity to redeem ourselves from the last tournament than here, in front of our friends and family. This week presents an opportunity for all of our guys to really work on their weaknesses and figure out how to turn those into strengths. I know just how talented and hardworking this team is, so I have no doubt in my mind that if they play smart, Auburn golf, they can take one through 10 on that leaderboard."
Last week, the Tigers finished sixth at the Dorado Beach Collegiate. As a team, the Orange & Blue shot 847 (-17) and were led by junior J.M. Butler at 206 (-10).
"It's going to be a great week," Butler said. "We all have family coming in town, so it will be nice to see them. We are focused on our process and prepared for the challenge ahead."
All 10 Tiger men will see action in the tournament as the roster will be split into two teams of five. Joining Butler on the first team will be sophomore Brendan Valdes, freshman Reed Lotter, junior Carson Bacha and senior Alex Vogelsong. Suiting up for team two will be seniors Austin Coggin and Hal Dove, juniors Ryan Eshleman and Max Johnson and sophomore Evan Vo.
Auburn has walked out victorious in seven of the 10 editions of the Tiger Invitational, including five of the last six, however, last season, Auburn's first and second teams finished second and third, respectively, as Florida Gulf Coast captured top honors with a 32-under 832.
At the 2022 Tiger, Valdes smashed the Auburn individual scoring record with a 54-hole total of 205 (-11), topping the previous record of 206 (-10) set by Ben Schlottman in 2018.
To come out on top, the Tigers will need to outplay a field consisting of 80 golfers from 16 other schools. Joining Auburn at Grand National for the week will be Chattanooga, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Georgia State, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, Oakland, North Alabama, Richmond, Toledo, Troy, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Stetson, UNC Wilmington and Wichita State.
For Sunday's opener, Auburn's first team will be paired with Southern Miss and Chattanooga and will tee off from the first hole at 9 a.m. CT. Team two will also get started at 9 a.m., teeing off from hole 10 with players from Stetson and UNC Wilmington.
Live scoring for all 54 holes of the 11th Tiger Invitational can be found at GolfStat.com.
