OPELIKA, Ala. – Led by the trio of Brendan Valdes, Reed Lotter and Alex Vogelsong, both Tiger teams carded below-par performances Sunday to begin the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner.
"Just proud of the guys today, all 10 of them," Auburn head coach Nick Clinard said. "I thought we got off to kind of a slow start, but we got it going in the middle and were able to post solid round. We've yet to play our best golf this spring, but I saw some really good stuff today. Looking forward to getting back out there tomorrow with some more great weather and competing."
Auburn's "A" team opened the tournament with a 12-under 276, tying the 6th-best 18-hole team score in the 11 years of the event. Valdes, Lotter and Vogelsong all fired top-10 worthy performances with a 67 (-5) and a pair of 69s (-3), respectively. Junior Carson Bacha signed for a 71 (-1) and junior J.M. Butler shot a 74 (+2).
Just seven rounds into his career, Lotter has already carded five in the 60s, matching Vogelsong, Niclas Carlsson and Will Long for the ninth-best total by a freshman in school history.
Another standout underclassman, sophomore Valdes, picked right up where he left off at last season's Tiger Invitational, shooting 5-under 67 to duplicate his opening round score from a year ago. Dating back to his 11-under outing in 2022, Valdes owns a 16-under career tally through four rounds at the Tigers' home tournament.
"I feel like I played pretty solid today," Valdes said. "I had a lot of opportunities, had some fall. Just trying to keep the good momentum going into the next two days."
Led by volunteer assistant Buddy Alexander, the Tigers' second team capped the day at 285 (-3) to place tied for sixth on the leaderboard. Sophomore Evan Vo carried the torch at 2-under 70. Following Vo were junior Ryan Eshleman (71/-1), junior Max Johnson (72/E), senior Austin Coggin (72/E) and senior Hal Dove (74/+2).
Three Auburn men made eagle on the day as the Tigers were the lone school to have multiple players do so. Eshleman and Bacha both delivered on 12 while Valdes saw his eagle come on 14.
Through the first round, Southern Miss holds the team lead at 273 (-15) and Valdes, Chattanooga's Paul Conroy and the USM's Robbie Latter pace the individuals at 67 (-5).
For Monday's middle 18, Auburn B will lead off at 8:50 a.m. CT in a pairing with Richmond and Louisiana Tech, followed by Auburn A alongside Troy and Southern Miss beginning at 9:40 a.m. CT.
| Placement | Golfer | R1 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Brendan Valdes (A) | 67 (-5) | 67 (-5) |
| T9 | Reed Lotter (A) | 69 (-3) | 69 (-3) |
| T9 | Alex Vogelsong (A) | 69 (-3) | 69 (-3) |
| T21 | Evan Vo (B) | 70 (-2) | 70 (-2) |
| T27 | Ryan Eshleman (B) | 71 (-1) | 71 (-1) |
| T27 | Carson Bacha (A) | 71 (-1) | 71 (-1) |
| T35 | Austin Coggin (B) | 72 (E) | 72 (E) |
| T35 | Max Johnson (B) | 72 (E) | 72 (E) |
| T56 | J.M. Butler (A) | 74 (+2) | 74 (+2) |
| T56 | Hal Dove (B) | 74 (+2) | 74 (+2) |
| 2 | Auburn (A) | 276 (-12) | 276 (-12) |
| T6 | Auburn (B) | 285 (-3) | 285 (-3) |