ATLANTA – No. 2 Auburn will face No. 12 Florida State in a rematch of the 2024 NCAA Championship Tuesday in the semifinals of the East Lake Cup in Atlanta, Georgia.
The Tigers and Seminoles both shot 281 (-7) in Monday’s stroke play round to earn the two and three seeds, respectively. No. 11 Georgia Tech bested both squads by one stroke, shooting 280 (-8) to claim the top seed. Ohio State finished fourth with a score of 290 (+2).
“We had some bright spots today, but we also had some chances we did not convert on,” Auburn head coach Nick Clinard said. “Now, none of those scores matter and we move on to the matches. It’s going to be a postseason-type of feel against teams that we know we will face in late May. We’re excited to get out there and make some noise.”
Auburn’s top player in stroke play was senior Carson Bacha. Bacha fired a 5-under 67 to finish second individually. He turned in a clean card with birdies on holes 1, 5, 12, 15 and 16.
Sophomore Jackson Koivun shot 2-under 70 and senior Brendan Valdes shot 1-under 71. Senior Ryan Eshleman and sophomore Josiah Gilbert finished above par, shooting a respective 1-over 73 and 3-over 75.
Tuesday’s semifinal pits Eshleman out first against Florida State’s Patrick McCann. The pair will lead off the 16-minute tee intervals at 11:20 a.m. CT. Next out, Valdes takes on Jack Bigham followed by Koivun against Luke Clanton and Gilbert versus Carson Brewer. Bacha battles Tyler Weaver in the anchor match that tees off at 12:40 p.m. CT.
Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the matches from 2 – 5 p.m. CT.