BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – No. 4 Auburn men's golf delivered the Tuesday's low round at SEC Fall Preview to cruise to a 13-shot victory in stroke play and clinch the top seed in the championship match. Auburn will face No. 7 Vanderbilt for all the marbles beginning at 9:20 a.m. CT Wednesday.
Ryan Eshleman will kickstart the first match, teeing off hole one in the 9:20 a.m. CT timeslot against the Commodores' Jackson Van Paris. Following Eshleman in 10-minute intervals will be Reed Lotter vs. Matthew Riedel, Jackson Koivun vs. Gordon Sargent, Brendan Valdes vs. Cole Sherwood and J.M. Butler vs. William Moll.
Vanderbilt shot 28-under to overtake Arkansas in the final round for the No. 2 seed. Sargent leads the Commodores and is the top-ranked amateur golfer in the world. He finished second in stroke play at 14-under.
"Really proud of the focus and adjustments I saw from our guys in stroke play this week," Auburn head coach Nick Clinard said. "Topping a field this talented is an extremely challenging task. Now we shift our focus to match play. Championships are won in matches, so we're going into this with the mindset that nothing before matters. It's a clean slate, and we're locked in on one hole at a time."
Auburn pieced together a marvelous 11-under 273 in the final round to further extend its lead and win its second consecutive stroke play event. All five of the Tigers' men carded top-20 finishes, led by junior Valdes in third at 12-under 201.
Valdes capped his week with a 69 (-2) to match his career low for 54 holes for the second tournament in a row. Statistically, his trio of rounds was highlighted by 17 birdies and an eagle on the ninth hole of day three.
"We had a really good showing in stroke play this week, and it was a full-team effort," Valdes said. "I'm to keep grinding with the boys for one more day. We're going to try and bring this one back home to Auburn."
Senior Butler finished one shot back of Valdes with a 202 (-11). Butler also shot 69 (-2) is his final round. He finished tied for fourth to lock up the ninth top-five placement of his collegiate career. Freshman Koivun finished just outside the top five in a tie for sixth place after shooting even par (71) on Tuesday. Koivun's three-day total was 204 (-9). He was the highest-placing rookie at the event.
Lotter delivered another outstanding underclassman performance on behalf of the Tigers as the sophomore saved his best round for last, shooting 68 (-3) to finish tied for 17th. He matched a single bogey with a foursome of birdies on holes 3, 7, 10, and 18. Senior Eshleman also found his lowest card in the final round as he led the team on Tuesday with a 4-under 67. Eshleman bogeyed the first hole but responded with birdies on 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15. He now has 26 birdies on the season.
Auburn Players
3. Brendan Valdes (-12)
T4. J.M. Butler (-11)
T6. Jackson Koivun (-9)
T17. Reed Lotter (-5)
T20. Ryan Eshleman (-4)
Team Leaderboard
1.#4 Auburn (-41)
2. #7 Vanderbilt (-28)
3. #25 Arkansas (-25)
4. #6 Ole Miss (-24)
5. #5 Tennessee (-23)
6. Texas A&M (-21)
7. #21 Florida (-16)
8. #9 Alabama (-9)
9. #14 Mississippi State (-3)
10. #19 LSU (-2)
11. Georgia (E)
12. Missouri (+2)
13. Kentucky (+8)
14. South Carolina (+10)
