COLUMBUS, Ga. – Four members of the Auburn men’s golf program were named to the spring watch list for the 2025 Fred Haskins Award on Monday.
Carson Bacha, Josiah Gilbert, Jackson Koivun and Brendan Valdes account for a fifth of the watch list.
Beginning in 1971, the Fred Haskins Award presented by Stifel is given annually to the top male U.S. collegiate golfer as voted on by only college golfers, coaches and members of the golf media. Past winners of the Haskins Award presented by Stifel have captured 33 major championships and more than 400 professional tournaments around the world.
Auburn is one of three schools with multiple men recognized, joining LSU and Texas, and is the only school with more than two players named to the list.
Bacha has quietly assembled the best run of form in his collegiate career as of late, leading the Tigers as the team’s low scorer in each of the last three tournaments. The senior from York, Pennsylvania has finished inside the top 25 in five of eight starts this season, including the last four in a row.
Bacha led the Tigers to their first stroke play victory of the season last week at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, shooting 7-under to narrowly miss out on low medalist honors.
Over 19 rounds of competition, he averages 70.47 strokes per round and has finished at or below par on 10 occasions.
The sophomore Gilbert has leveled up his game after an exciting freshman season just a year ago, leading the team in subpar rounds (10), rounds in the 60s (7) and eagles (4). He also boasts a miniscule 70.25 scoring average.
Gilbert has yet to finish higher than 28th this season and has placed in the top five in two of his previous three starts. He picked up his first career collegiate win in September at the Valero Texas Collegiate, firing a 12-under 204.
The reigning Haskins winner, Koivun, has not slowed down on the collegiate scene, leading the roster with a 69.94 scoring average. The sophomore from Chapel Hill, North Carolina kicked off the 2024-25 season with his third career individual win, shooting 9-under 198 at the Inverness Intercollegiate.
He’s since recorded three-straight top 15 performances at the Williams Cup, East Lake Cup and Amer Ari Invitational.
Valdes rounds out the recognized foursome as yet another weapon in the toolkit for the Tigers. Auburn’s birdies leader (65) averages 70.63 shots per round and has not placed higher than 19th in six starts in his final season on The Plains.
Last time out, the Orlando, Florida native earned his 13th career top five finish at Southern Highlands behind a 2-under showing. With a 68 (-4) in his final round of the aforementioned event, Valdes tied the program record with his 68th career round below par.
To view the full 20-man Haskins Award watch list, visit haskinsfoundation.org.