SURVIVE AND ADVANCE: men’s golf clinches fourth round at NCAA Championship

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – For the second consecutive year, Auburn will play on Monday at the NCAA Championship as the Tigers shot 2-over Sunday at Grayhawk Golf Club to secure a spot in the final stroke play round as one of the top-15 teams in the nation.
 
Continuing its trend of playing stronger each day, Auburn improved on yesterday's score by four shots to shoot 282 (+2) and hold at 11th on the team leaderboard.

"We've got a lot of heart and a lot of grit," head coach Nick Clinard said. "It played tough out there today. As the day went on, the wind picked up and it got tougher and tougher. We made some smart choices and some great putts coming and that's something you really like to see. We've yet to play our best round, so I'm excited knowing that's still out there for us to go get."
 
It was the rookie Reed Lotter that delivered the Orange & Blue's big score of the afternoon as he carded a 3-under 67. He began his round with an impressive birdie chip from the rough on 10 and never looked back. Lotter bogeyed 12 and 13, but those were the only blemishes on his scorecard as he made 11 pars and 4 birdies on his final 15 holes.
 
With the performance, Lotter officially ties Brandon Mancheno (2017-20) with 11 rounds in the 60s, the single-season freshman record.
 
"Today was really good," Lotter said. "I stuck to my game plan all day and didn't get too greedy. I got over a lot of putts today and felt confident over them. I had an awesome start to my round with my chip in on 10, and then, the cherry on top was my putt on 18 to lock up the solid day. I'm looking forward to bringing the same thing tomorrow."
 
Auburn's next best score came from junior J.M. Butler, who carded an even 72 in his 100th career round as a Tiger. The highlight of his day was a pair of birdies that came on holes 2 and 13. Butler's final birdie was his 140th of the season, matching the total from his All-American campaign a year ago.
 
Next up were senior Alex Vogelsong and junior Carson Bacha. Vogelsong carded a two-over 72 while Bacha shot one stroke higher with a 3-over 73. Vogelsong's lone birdie of Sunday came on 11. Bacha birdied thrice, on holes 2, 11 and 17.
 
Sophomore Brendan Valdes shot 78 during the third round to become the team's drop score.
 
Auburn will play with Virginia and Texas A&M during the final set of stroke play holes. Valdes will lead off the 11-minute tee intervals at 12:11 p.m. from hole 10.
 
To advance to the match play portion of this year's championship, the Tigers will need a top-8 seed following Monday's action. Auburn currently sits three strokes back of the next cutline.
 
Golf Channel will begin live coverage during round four starting at 4 p.m. CT.