BILOXI, Miss. – No. 1 Auburn men's golf produced the low round of the day Monday at the Fallen Oak Collegiate Invitational, shooting 283 (-5) to jump into first place ahead of Tuesday's final round. Auburn sits six shots up second-place Mississippi State.
The Tigers joined Ole Miss as the only teams to shoot below par in the round.
"Really proud of our group today," head coach Nick Clinard said. "We played with a lot of heart and a lot more energy and passion. There are still too many mistakes with our wedges and putters. We've got to laser in on improving on and around the greens, with a huge focus inside 150 yards. Overall, it was a good day with many things to be proud of as well as a handful to learn from."
Auburn is led by three men all inside the top 10. Freshman Jackson Koivun leads the pack in a tie for fourth after shooting 73 (+1) Tuesday. He sits at 3-under for the week. Next, both junior Brendan Valdes and sophomore Reed Lotter sit one shot back in a tie for sixth at 2-under. Lotter carded a 71 (-1) for the second round in a row while Valdes produced a 69 (-3). Valdes bookended his round with a pair of milestones, making the 13th eagle of his career to start the day on 1, and finishing with the 300th birdie of his career on 18.
With 13 eagles, Valdes matches Brandon Mancheno (2017-20) for fifth all-time in school history.
Next, in a tie for 17th at 1-over are both senior J.M. Butler and fifth year Alex Vogelsong. Butler shot 75 (+3). He recorded another of the Tigers' three eagles of the day on the seventh hole. It was the eighth of his career. Vogelsong bounced back from a tough 76 (+4) in the first round with a 69 (-3) in the second. He outweighed two bogeys with five birdies on holes 1, 6, 7, 12 and 16.
Redshirt-junior Ryan Eshleman also responded to an abysmal first round with some heat on day two. The Birmingham, Alabama native utilized two birdies and an eagle on 6 to shoot 70 (-2).
For the final round, Auburn will play alongside the Bulldogs and Rebels again, teeing off from the first hole in 10-minute intervals, beginning with Vogelsong at 9 a.m. CT.
Over at the MartinFed Invitational, Auburn's "B" team also put itself in prime position to take home some hardware as it sits in first at 18-under through 36 holes of play. The squad was led by the rookie from Down Under, Josiah Gilbert. Gilbert lit up the links in his opening round, shooting a nearly clean 6-under 66. He erased one bogey with seven birdies. In his afternoon round, Gilbert went low again, and shot 3-under 69. He trails Alabama's JP Cave by two strokes heading into Tuesday's finale.
Auburn's No. 2 scorer was another freshman in Cayden Pope. Pope shot 71-70 to share ninth place at 3-under. Both senior Max Johnson and redshirt-junior Carson Bacha are one shot back of Pope at 2-under. Bacha signed for a pair of 71s (-1) while Johnson paired a 73 (+1) with a 70 (-2).
Finally, graduate student Hal Dove produced a career-low 70 (-2) in his morning round. He followed it with a 75 (+3) in the afternoon.
For the final round at Turtle Point, action will commence in a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. CT. The Orange & Blue contingent will go off the first four holes and play alongside both North Alabama teams.
FALLEN OAK COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL
Auburn Players
T4. Jackson Koivun (-3)
T6. Brendan Valdes (-2)
T6. Reed Lotter (-2)
T17. Alex Vogelsong* (+1)
T17. J.M. Butler (+1)
T42. Ryan Eshleman (+7)
*- Individual Player
Team Leaderboard
- No. 1 Auburn (-11)
- No. 10 Mississippi State (-5)
- No. 3 Ole Miss (-2)
- Colorado (+8)
- RV SMU (+9)
- Kansas (+10)
- Louisiana Tech (+13)
- Southern Miss (+15)
- Wisconsin (+20)
- UNLV (+21)
- Iowa (+28)
- UCF (+31)
MARTINFED INVITATIONAL
Auburn Players
2. Josiah Gilbert (-9)
T9. Cayden Pope (-3)
T14. Carson Bacha (-2)
T14. Max Johnson (-2)
T22. Hal Dove (+1)
Team Leaderboard
1.Auburn (B) (-18)
2. North Alabama (-17)
3. North Alabama (B)(-9)
4. Troy (B) (E)
5. Purdue Fort Wayne (+1)
T6. Lindenwood (+9)
T6. SELU (+9)
8. Samford (+10)
9. Rollins College (+14)
10. Western Illinois (+26)
11. Alabama A&M (+43)