AUBURN, Ala. – Returning to collegiate competition for the first time in three months, No. 3 Auburn men’s golf begins its spring season this week, Feb. 6-8, at the Amer Ari Invitational hosted by the Mauna Lani Golf Course in Waikoloa, Hawai’i.
“It should be an exciting week of elite-level competition ahead,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “We’re jumping right back into it at a fabulous venue against a stacked field. This is a chance for our guys to really show what they’ve been working on over the break and just how much they’ve leveled up their games. Everyone wants to be in that starting five come April and May, and this is the first opportunity for these six to make their case.”
A shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. CT kickstarts the tournament's opening round. The Tigers are paired with players from Georgia Tech, Hawaii and Oregon State for Thursday’s action.
Auburn’s starting five consists of seniors Carson Bacha and Ryan Eshleman, junior Reed Lotter and sophomores Jackson Koivun and Cayden Pope. Freshman Billy Davis also made the trip and will play as an individual for the duration of the event.
The six men combined for 21 subpar rounds, 165 birdies and 10 top-20 finishes throughout the fall season. Koivun picked up his third career win in September at the Inverness Intercollegiate and opens 2025 as one of 35 men named to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List, an award that he took home last year.
Koivun, Bacha and Eshleman all played major roles in the Tigers’ fall victory at the East Lake Cup as they accounted for the three points needed to defeat Georgia Tech in the finale. Eshleman bested Aidan Tran, 1-UP, Bacha defeated Kale Fontenot, 2-UP, and Koivun took down the reigning NCAA Individual National Champion, Hiroshi Tai, 2&1.
This week marks the Tigers’ 11th appearance at Amer Ari since 2013. In its 10 previous trips, Auburn has yet to win the tournament. The program’s best finish was a second-place showing in 2019.
Last year, Auburn finished third with a final score of 58-under 806. Koivun, Lotter and Bacha were all a part of the 2024 starters. Koivun finished fourth at 17-under while Lotter shot 12-under and Bacha shot 8-under.
Pope played as the individual and finished at 6-under.
To claim its first Amer Ari crown, Auburn must outplay 19 other teams, including 11 of whom were ranked or receiving votes in the final edition of the fall coaches poll. In addition to the No. 3 Tigers, this week’s field consists of No. 4 Arizona State, No. 5 Texas, No. 8 North Carolina, No. 9 Oklahoma State, No. 12 Georgia Tech, No. 13 UCLA, No. 20 Texas Tech, No. 22 Pepperdine, RV Pacific, RV Oregon, RV Stanford, Hawaii, Hawaii-Hilo, Oregon State, San Jose State, UC Davis, Washington and two Japanese universities – Osaka Gakuin and Waseda.
Scoreboard powered by Clippd is set to provide live scoring for the 2025 Amer Ari Invitational.