Tigers pick up speed, rise to third during day one of Lewis Chitengwa

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – A slow start at the Lewis Chitengwa Memorial Monday did not deter No. 6 Auburn men's golf as it utilized the low score of round two to soar five spots up the leaderboard and hold strong at 14-under heading into Tuesday's finale.
 
In the opener, the Tigers shot 280 (-4) for an eighth place standing, however, the team picked up momentum quickly and righted the ship to shoot 274 (-10) in the middle round for a 36-hole mark of 554 (-14). Auburn sits four strokes back of host No. 21 Virginia and 16 back of No. 7 Florida State.
 
"Got off to a bit of a rough start," Auburn head coach Nick Clinard said." We lacked some patience and control with our wedges and short irons, but it started to show up some more as the day progressed. Your goal is to always play stronger the more holes you get under your belt, so it was good to see some improvement during round two. Tomorrow, I am going to challenge the guys to be even better, sharper, smarter, so that we can finish this week as low as we possibly can."
 
Leading the comeback charge was senior Alex Vogelsong who carded back-to-back rounds in the 60s, including a clean 66 (-5) in round two. The Palm City, Florida product bogeyed just twice and made birdie nine times for a 7-under day, good for third in the standings and one back from the lead.
 
"Played really solid today," Vogelsong said. "Scrambled a little bit in the first round but was able to get it in at 69. Started to hit it better in second round and was able to capitalize on some putts down the stretch. A 66 with no bogeys is always a great round. I'm just going to try to keep the momentum going into tomorrow."
 
With the pair of outings in the 60s, Vogelsong rises to a tie for sixth in school history with 26 career 60s, matching Niclas Carlsson and Brandon Mancheno.
 
Also tucking themselves inside the low 20 were junior J.M. Butler and freshman Reed Lotter. Butler shot even par in round one and responded with his 17th subpar round of the season, firing a 3-under 68 to close the day.  Butler's final birdie on 16 also marked the 350th of his Auburn career. Lotter sits one stroke back thanks to a pair of 70s (-1) to begin the Chitengwa. With 11 rounds below par in his rookie campaign, the Savannah, Georgia native joins a six-way tie for the fifth-most by a freshman in program history. Three members of the tie include current teammates Butler, Brendan Valdes and Evan Vo.
 
Both Valdes and Vo posted identical scores on Monday with a 72 (+1) in the first 18 followed by a 70 (-1) in the second. Valdes snapped a 16-round streak of playing at or below par with the +1 in round one. The duo is even par heading into the final stretch.
 
A shot lower sits junior Carson Bacha. Bacha followed a 70 (-1) with a 71 (E) for a 141 (-1) through 36. With his 10th birdie of Monday on 14, the York, Pennsylvania product officially joins the season's 100-birdie club as the fourth Tiger to do so this year alongside Valdes, Butler and Ryan Eshleman. With 100 birdies through 24 rounds of play, Bacha has already surpassed his previous best of 89 through 25 rounds all last season.
 
Auburn will play with Florida State and Virginia once more to close out the tournament. Valdes will lead off at 9 a.m. CT from the first hole.