ATHENS, Ga. – Auburn junior Josiah Gilbert leads the 75-man field at the NCAA Athens Regional following a 6-under 65 Monday at the University of Georgia Golf Course. As a team, Auburn stands tied for second place at 7-under.
“I thought we were really sluggish out of the gates,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “With them having three weeks off, there was some rust to shake off, but they were a resilient group on the back nine. They’ve been resilient all year. I’m proud of them for hanging in there and putting us in a good position moving forward. Our goal will just be to get off to a better start tomorrow.”
Following Wednesday’s third round, the top five teams will punch their tickets to the NCAA Championship, set for May 29 – June 3 at the Omni La Costa Champions Course in Carlsbad, California.
Louisville leads the pack heading into Tuesday at 10-under. Host Georgia and Rice are tied for fifth at 5-under.
Gilbert’s noteworthy round consisted of one bogey, seven birdies and 10 pars. He made all seven of his birdies in a 10-hole stretch from holes 4 to 13. Louisville’s Warren Thomis and Northwestern’s Ethan Tseng both sit one shot back of Gilbert at 5-under.
Junior All-American Jackson Koivun battled through illness to shoot a 1-under 70. He turned at 3-over, but made birdies on four of his final seven holes to finish below par.
Both freshman Logan Reilly and junior Cayden Pope turned in 71s. Both men played the front nine above par, but responded with stronger back nines to finish the day at even par.
Freshman Jake Albert shot 3-over 74. His highlight of the round was a chip-in eagle on the par-5 17th. He’s up to six eagles this season.