CARLSBAD, Calif. – It was a 2-under 286 day for the top-ranked Tigers in the opening round of the 2025 NCAA Championship. Senior Brendan Valdes was the team’s major contributor with a 3-under 69 at the Omni La Costa Champions Course.
After Friday’s round, Auburn holds firm in tied for fifth place.
“I didn’t think we played very well overall,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “The wind blew a little bit stronger than we thought it would today. We just didn’t have a lot of help in there in those No. 4, No. 5 spots. We had three rounds under par, but anytime you have to count a 3-over, you’re not going to be leading in this type of field.”
No. 6 Oklahoma leads the field at 8-under.
For round two, the Tigers are set to go off the first tee at 8:30 a.m. CT, once again playing alongside Ole Miss and Oklahoma State.
It was a five-birdie, two-bogey day for Valdes as the Orlando, Florida native carded the best NCAA Championship score of his career. He’d previously gone sub-70 twice with a 68 and 69 at the 2022 and 2023 NCAA Championships, respectively, on the par-70 Grayhawk Golf Course.
Valdes picked up his birdies on holes 1, 4, 11, 15 and 18.
“I felt really good about today,” Valdes said. “It was consistent golf. Making birdies where I can, but it’s a tough golf course, so trying to plot around and avoid the big numbers, so I feel pretty good about what I did today.”
Sophomores Josiah Gilbert and Jackson Koivun joined Valdes in the Tigers’ trio of subpar players. Each man shot 71 (-1). Gilbert bogeyed 2 and answered with birdies on 6 and 11. Koivun used five birdies, coming on holes 2, 4, 10, 11 and 18.
Senior Carson Bacha finished the round with a 75 (+3). Sophomore Cayden Pope finished with a 77 (+5).
Following Sunday’s third round of stroke play, the field will be cut in half to 15 for a fourth round of stroke play before cutting to eight teams for match play starting on Tuesday.