ATLANTA, GA. (EETV) – The Auburn Men’s Golf team capped off their fall campaign with a win in Atlanta at the prestigious East Lake Cup. Hosted at the home of the PGA Tour Championship, the East Lake Cup only invites the final four teams from the previous year’s NCAA National Championship. The 2nd ranked Tigers took down Florida State 3-2 and Georgia Tech 3-2 in match play to lift their first trophy since the National Championship trophy last May.
Monday was the only stroke play round of the East Lake Cup. Auburn finished tied for second in stroke play at 7-under with number 12 Florida State. Redshirt Senior Carson Bacha led the Tigers with a 5-under 67. Sophomore stud Jackson Koivun added a 2-under 70 and Senior Brendan Valdes shot 1-under for a 71. The Tigers earned a matchup with Florida State on Tuesday in the semifinals of match play while 11th ranked Georgia Tech took on Ohio State on the other side of the bracket.
On Tuesday, Auburn and Florida State got their anticipated rematch for the first time since the National Championship in which Auburn defeated the Seminoles 3-2 to earn the title. Tuesday’s match was another thriller with close matches across the board including a match between World Amateur number one, FSU’s Luke Clanton, and World Amateur number two, Auburn’s Jackson Koivun. The first matchup went well for Auburn, as Redshirt Senior Ryan Eshleman birdied holes 12, 13, and 14 to put a point on the board for the orange and blue, 5&4. Brendan Valdes birdied 16 and 17 to win his match 3&1, giving Auburn the 2-0 lead. The two best amateurs Clanton and Koivun went back and forth before Clanton got the Seminoles on the board 3&2 after winning hole 15 and 16. With the lead at 2-1, Sophomore Josiah Gilbert won the 17th hole of his match to send Auburn to the final. Carson Bacha was down when Gilbert won his match, making the final score 3-2 Tigers.
In the final, Auburn took on Georgia Tech and last year's individual National Champion, Hiroshi Tai. Tai took on Jackson Koivun in the anchor match for the two teams, which ended up being the decider in a back-and-forth match. Once again, Ryan Eshleman opened up the scoring for Auburn, holding off Georgia Tech’s Aidan Tran on the back nine, winning 1-up. Brendan Valdes could not take the lead in his match after tying it on hole 14. He knocked it into the hazard on hole 18 with a chance to send the match to extra holes and the Yellow Jackets tied the match at one apiece. Carson Bacha did not trail last year’s individual champion at the East Lake Cup, Kale Fontenot, and won holes 17 and 18 to give Auburn their second point. Josiah Gilbert trailed every hole against Georgia Tech’s Benjamin Reuter, eventually falling on the 17th and tying the overall match at 2-2. The anchor match between Hiroshi Tai and Jackson Koivun was the deciding match. Koivun birdied hole 15 and made huge eight-foot putts on both 16 and 17 to beat Tai 2&1 and win the Tigers the East Lake Cup.
Auburn is now two-for-two in winning the East Lake Cup. When the Tigers make the trip up to East Lake, they get down to business and make stuff happen. Head Coach Nick Clinard talked about the grit and heart of the team after the performance, which was evident as Auburn dug their heels in and won the matches they needed to get the job done.
Auburn now heads to the winter break confident off of this win. The Auburn Men’s Golf team will be back in 2025 as they travel all the way west to say “Aloha!” and have some fun in the sun. From February 6th to 8th they will play in the Amer Ari Invitational at the Mauna Lani Golf Course in Waikoloa, Hawaii to start off their spring season in the quest to repeat as National Champions.
