Auburn takes No. 1 seed in stroke play, draws No. 15 Stanford in NCAA Quarterfinals

by Tucker Cleverdon
Auburn takes No. 1 seed in stroke play, draws No. 15 Stanford in NCAA QuarterfinalsAuburn takes No. 1 seed in stroke play, draws No. 15 Stanford in NCAA Quarterfinals

CARLSBAD, Calif. – For the first time in program history, Auburn men’s golf finished first in the stroke play portion of the NCAA Championship, shooting 26-under-par to draw eight-seeded Stanford in the quarterfinals at the Omni LaCosta Champions Course. 

The No. 1 Tigers face the No. 15 Cardinal starting at 7:40 a.m. PT off the 10th hole. The match marks Auburn’s third consecutive season with an Elite Eight appearance. 

“We’re looking forward to the opportunity in front of us tomorrow. We know we have to play better than we have the last two days,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “I’m just so proud of these guys and Auburn University. It’s been a full-team effort, and that’s who we’re going to war for starting tomorrow morning, everyone that’s played a role in us getting to this point so far.”

Auburn fended off No. 3 Texas (-23) by three shots to claim the top seed. The Tigers were led by junior Josiah Gilbert, who finished third individually at 11-under-par. 

“It was good for me to finish strong,” Gilbert said. “I know what I need to work on, individually, but now my focus is on the team. It’s time to go prove it in match play.”

Junior Jackson Koivun finished tied for 10th at 7-under. Freshman Logan Reilly finished just inside the top 20 in his NCAA Championship debut at 4-under. Freshman Jake Albert ended the week at even par, and junior Cayden Pope finished at 5-over. 

No. 10 North Carolina and No. 18 Tennessee lost a four-for-two playoff with Stanford and UCLA to become the first teams on the outside of the cut line. Also failing to advance were No. 4 Virginia (+1), No. 7 LSU (+3), Duke (+4), No. 16 Oklahoma (+5) and San Diego (+24).

Golf Channel begins its coverage of the quarterfinal matches starting at approximately 10 a.m. PT Tuesday. Live scoring is available at scoreboard.clippd.com.

  • AUBURN vs. (8) Stanford (all times PT)
  1. Jackson Koivun vs. Nathan Wang (7:40am)
  2. Logan Reilly vs. Dean Greyserman (7:50am)
  3. Jake Albert vs. Ethan Gao (8am)
  4. Josiah Gilbert vs. Jay Leng (8:10am)
  5. Cayden Pope vs. Edan Cui (8:20am)