FRANKLIN, Tenn. - The Auburn men’s golf team traveled to Franklin, Tennessee for the Mason Rudolph Championship. Due to flooding, the tournament was changed to a two-day event; however, the Tigers adapted and showed out, securing their fourth tournament win of the season.
Auburn played solid on day one but entered the final round in third place, eight shots behind Ole Miss and the home team, Vanderbilt.
Despite the deficit, the Tigers caught fire in the final round, shooting a tournament-best 16-under 268 collectively, securing the victory by five strokes scoring 38-under 814. The Tigers were led by Jackson Koivun and Carson Bacha finishing second and third, along with Brendan Valdes tying for fourth place.
Koivun set the pace for Auburn, shooting 13-under. Bacha was on his tail finishing one stroke back at 12-under.
Valdes finished at 11-under and made history in the process, becoming just the fifth player in Auburn history to record 500 birdies. He racked up 16 birdies in the tournament, putting him fourth in program history.
Three other players finished under par: Cayden Pope shot 4-under, tying for 18th place. Billy Davis and Josiah Gilbert both finished the tournament at 1-under par. Ryan Eshelman finished the tournament at even par.
It was was a challenging tournament for the squad, but they adapted to the conditions and demonstrated resilience. With the regular season winding down, Auburn aims to take that same mindset into the postseason.
The Tigers wrap up the regular season on April 14-15 in Savannah, Georgia, at The Invitational at The Ford.
