AUBURN, Ala. – Back in action for the first time in the new year, No. 5 Auburn men’s golf begins its spring season this week, Feb. 5-7, at the Amer Ari Invitational at Mauna Lani Golf Club in Waikoloa, Hawai’i.
“We’re blessed to be able to get back into collegiate competition at such a fabulous venue,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “The level of opponents we’ll play against is the quality you’d see at a postseason event, and that certainly excites us. Our guys are eager for the opportunity to compete against and beat some of the sport’s top players. Their goal, as always, is to finish the week with a trophy in their hands.”
The field this year at Mauna Lani is stacked with competition as eight top-25 programs are set to compete. Lining up alongside the No. 5 Tigers are No. 4 Pepperdine, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Arizona State, the reigning Ameri Ari and NCAA Champion, No. 11 Oklahoma State, No. 15 North Carolina, No. 16 Texas Tech, No. 17 Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Hawaii-Hilo, Oregon, Oregon State, Osaka Gakuin (Japan), Pacific, San Jose State, Stanford, UC Davis, UCLA, UT Arlington and Washington.
A shotgun start at 11:30 a.m. CT will signify the start of Thursday’s opening round. The Tigers will begin on holes 8-10 in foursomes with Georgia Tech, Hawaii and Oregon State.
Auburn has appeared in the tournament eight times over the last decade but has never won. The Tigers’ best finish was a runner-up performance in 2019.
Last season, they finished fourth of 20 teams with an overall score of 53-under 811. Carson Bacha led the lineup, shooting 18-under to tie for third, individually. Jackson Koivun and Billy Davis, both of whom return to action this week, also competed last year and finished inside the top 15, shooting 14-under and 13-under, respectively.
Joining Koivun and Davis on the Big Island are juniors Josiah Gilbert and Cayden Pope and freshmen Jake Albert and Logan Reilly. Reilly will play the week as an individual and will not count toward the team score.
Four of the men are ranked inside the top 150 in the latest World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR). Koivun holds the honor of being the world’s top-ranked player. Behind him are Gilbert at No. 9, Pope at No. 77 and Davis at No. 102.
Gilbert delivered the flashiest fall with a pair of wins at the Honors Course Invitational in Tennessee and the Clerico in Oklahoma. Albert, Davis and Koivun all earned their best finishes at the Clerico as well, placing T16th, T7th and T5th, respectively. Pope’s top showing was a T15th at the Honors Course. Reilly placed runner-up for the first time in his career at the Turtle Point Individual.
Auburn also won its first team title of the season at The Clerico. An 8-over-par performance saw the Tigers cruise to a six-shot victory. The same starting five from the win are back this week.
Live scoring for the 2025 Amer Ari Invitational can be found at scoreboard.clippd.com.