BATON ROUGE, La. – Auburn golf's Jackson Koivun continued his postseason tear as the rookie carded a 2-under 70 Monday at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional to lead the Tiger lineup and set a new program single season record with 25 rounds below par.
As a team, No. 1 Auburn turned in a 285 (-3) in the opener to hold strong in second place. The Tigers trail No. 12 Virginia by five strokes heading into Tuesday's middle round.
Koivun and fellow freshman Josiah Gilbert posted the squad's low scores on the day with their pair of 70s. Gilbert's card was highlighted by two eagles, his fourth and fifth of the year, which came on holes 7 and 17. Koivun's record-smashing round consisted of three birdies on holes 2, 7 and 15 and a single bogey on 13. It was his ninth consecutive subpar round.
Junior Carson Bacha utilized four birdies on 6, 8, 14, and 17 to shoot even par (72). Senior J.M. Butler finished at 1-over 73 and junior Brendan Valdes turned in a 2-over 74.
Auburn will need to finish top five following Wednesday's third round in order to punch its ticket to the 2024 NCAA Championship. For round two, Auburn will play alongside the leading Cavaliers and Ohio State. Valdes will tee off first, from hole 1, at 8 a.m. CT.
