AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 9-ranked Auburn men's golf team will look to capture its fifth Southeastern Conference title this week, April 19-23, at the 2023 SEC Championship in Saint Simons Island, Georgia at Seaside Golf Club.
"We've had a great year," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "We have a lot of depth and we've had a lot of guys play at a really high level. We've been ranked in the top 10 the entire season, but that is in the past now. We've got three tournaments left and they're all very important. It all starts this week with the SEC Championship."
Auburn previously captured the conference's championship in 1976, 1981, 2002 and 2018. Five Auburn players have gone home with individual honors. Jimmy Green became the Tigers' first in 1991. Next was Bryant MacKellar in 1997 followed by Roland Thatcher in 2000. No. 4 came in 2007 via Patton Kizzire and Jovan Rebula took home Auburn's fifth in 2019.
Since 2017, a new format has determined the league's champion. All 14 schools will compete in three rounds of stroke play before being cut down to the low eight. The eight will then face off in head-to-head match play battles until only one school remains.
Teeing off this year will be freshman Reed Lotter, sophomore Brendan Valdes, juniors Carson Bacha, J.M. Butler and Ryan Eshleman and senior Alex Vogelsong. Valdes will lead off from the one spot followed by Butler, Bacha, Lotter and Vogelsong. Eshleman will be the sixth man to begin the tournament, however, NCAA postseason rules allow for the substitution of any given player following the completion of a round.
Lotter returns to his home state looking to continue a blistering start to his collegiate career after making his debut on Feb. 20 at The Prestige Individual. The rookie has carded six consecutive top-20 performances thanks to 16 of 18 rounds coming at or below par. With nine rounds in the 60s, Lotter also stands two away from tying Auburn's freshman record set by Brandon Mancheno during the 2017-18 season.
"I'm really looking forward to playing my first SEC Championship in my home state," Lotter said. "I love it down at Sea Island. I'm very familiar with that type of low-country golf. I can't wait for a great week!"
Another standout underclassman, Valdes, has hit the ground running in breakout sophomore campaign that saw a 16-round streak of playing at par or better. This year, Valdes has put himself in a position to contend for nearly every single season record in the book. Among other statistical wonders, he currently holds the program's best scoring average at 69.26 strokes per round and is two away from breaking the single-season mark for rounds in the 60s. The Orlando, Florida native is also 37 birdies shy of that single-season record.
Lotter, Valdes and Bacha will each make their SEC Championship debut this week. Butler and Vogelsong have each played in two previous editions of the event.
Both men carded their best performance at last year's championships. Butler improved his score by eight strokes to finish tied for 11th at 2-under while Vogelsong improved by seven to finish even par and tied for 18th overall.
"It's an honor to play in the SEC," Vogelsong said. "Sharing this conference with so many great programs, players and coaches is special. Playing for coach Clinard gives everyone on our team confidence because we know his track record in this conference, and we know we have the capability of doing something special this year. Between our coaching staff and all the players that have come before us, it means a lot. We don't only play for ourselves but also for all those who laid the foundation before us."
Eight total SEC schools are represented in Golfstat's latest top-25 poll. Auburn checks in as the second-highest ranked team in the conference behind No. 1 Vanderbilt. Following the No. 9 Tigers are No. 10 Florida, No. 14 Tennessee, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 17 Alabama, No. 18 Mississippi State and No. 20 Ole Miss. This season, Auburn boasts a 21-5 record (.808) versus intraconference competition, outplaying conference opponents by an average of 16.7 strokes per tournament.
For Wednesday's opening 18, Auburn will play alongside the Commodores and Gators, teeing off from the first hole at 7 a.m. CT.
Live scoring for the duration of the 2023 SEC Men's Golf Championship can be found at Golfstat.com.