WILMINGTON, N.C. – No. 1 Auburn men's golf heads home with silver following a second-place finish Tuesday in The Williams Cup presented by STITCH at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, North Carolina. Auburn shot 296 (+8) in its final round to total a 7-over 871 for the week.
"Second place in a field this talented is never a bad thing, but we know we left a lot of shots out there," Tigers head coach Nick Clinard said. "We didn't have our best this week. It's something we are going to take back home and learn from. It's okay to make mistakes, as long as you can grow from them."
No. 2 North Carolina captured the event's team title at 11 strokes below bar. Auburn finished five shots ahead of third place, No. 6 Arizona State.
UNC's David Ford and UNF's Nick Gabrelcik tied for the individual championship at 4-under 212.
Junior Brendan Valdes led the Orange & Blue lineup, wire-to-wire, and finished tied for sixth place as the Tigers' only man below par at 215 (-1). Valdes carded a 73 (+1) in Tuesday's third round. The Orlando, Florida native has now finished inside the top-10 of all three events this fall.
Valdes made birdie 13 times in the tournament, the fourth-most by any player in the 60-man field. He now has 295 birdies in his career.
Auburn found three more top-20 individual finishes from sophomore Reed Lotter, senior J.M. Butler and freshman Jackson Koivun. Lotter ended the week at tied for 13th on the leaderboard following a 73 (+1) over his final 18 holes. Butler and Koivun both produced 5-over 221s at The Williams Cup, placing tied for 19th. On Tuesday, Butler shot 79 (+7) and Koivun shot 74 (+2).
Fifth year Alex Vogelsong finished 32nd with a final-round 76 (+4).
Individuals Ryan Eshleman and Josiah Gilbert shot 6-over and 8-over for the week, respectively, to conclude play just outside the top-20.
Up next, the Tigers hit the road once again for the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational in Biloxi, Mississippi. Fallen Oak Golf Club hosts the event Oct. 15-17.
Auburn Players
T6. Brendan Valdes (-1)
T13. Reed Lotter (+3)
T19. J.M. Butler (+5)
T19. Jackson Koivun (+5)
32. Alex Vogelsong (+10)
Auburn Individuals
T23. Ryan Eshleman (+6)
T27. Josiah Gilbert (+8)
Team Leaderboard
1.#2 North Carolina (-11)
2. #1 Auburn (+7)
3. #6 Arizona State (+12)
T4. #17 Florida (+23)
T4. RV North Florida (+23)
T4. Louisville (+23)
7. NC State (+26)
8. Missouri (+28)
9. UNCW (+39)
10. Elon (+42)
