The Auburn Men's Golf team traveled to Laredo, Texas, to participate in the Border Olympics at the Laredo Country Club.
The event, hosted by the University of Houston, was held March 5-6.
Auburn was hoping for a clean tournament and strong finish for its first appearance in the three round, 54-hole tournament.
Friday, however, sophomore John Stembridge fell ill and was pulled from the tournament, leaving the Tigers down a man for the first two rounds.
Redshirt freshman Jackson Beindorf was flown in for the third round Saturday.
"It sucked," said sophomore Will McCurdy. "It's like trying to play a football game with eight of 11 players."
McCurdy tried to see the bright side of things and said the underdog mindset can be an advantage if everyone plays well.
With competition among 16 teams including Air Force, Arkansas, Baylor, Lamar, New Mexico State, North Texas, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Rice, Texas State, UT Arlington, University of Texas at El Paso, University of Texas at San Antonio and Washington State,
Head coach Nick Clinard said the team had an uphill battle with the absence of Stembridge.
"Normally in a tournament, you have five guys play, but you get to throw out the high score and only use the low four,"
Clinard said. "But these guys had to play the first two rounds with only four guys and didn't have that option of throwing a score out."
Clinard said he was extremely proud of his players and the way they handled the situation by exhibiting maturity and proving themselves as individual players.
Despite the disadvantage, the Tigers still had three men finish in the top seven and placed fifth overall in the tournament.
Sophomore Kyle Kopsick finished second with afinalroundof72anda 54-hole score of 215.
McCurdy tied for third place with a final round of 73 and an overall score of 216.
McCurdy set some personal bests with a 36-hole score of 143 and his final
score being his best 54hole score yet.
Senior Cole Moreland polished off the top seven, with a seventh place finish.
Moreland scored a 74 on the final round and had a 218 overall score.
While the team and Clinard seem pleased with the outcome considering the unusual circumstances, Kopsick said there are some aspects of the game the team needs to work on.
"It's pretty clear that we all need to work on our putting," Kopsick said. "All in all, though, we're each continuing to improve each tournament, which is great."
Even with the putting weaknesses, Auburn led the 16-team tournament in par-4 scoring, with Auburn taking the top three
overall par-4 averages. McCurdy had the best par-4 average of the tournament, with a 3.93 strokes average on par-4 play. "Will McCurdy has really played well," Clinard said. "He has finished in the top three the last two tournaments after a disappointing fall. It was time for someone else to start playing if he didn't shape up, but he's responded well and really stepped up."
Clinard says he hopes McCurdy can help lead the team to the NCAA finals, along with the other team leaders, Kopsick and Moreland.
"These three guys are a great tandem," Clinard said. "They are really carrying the team on their back right now."
As Clinard looks ahead to what these players can do for the team, it is also important that the team takes it one tournament at a time.
Next up for the Tigers is the Tiger Shootout, which Auburn will host at the Auburn University Club.
This is the first year of the event and Clinard said it will be small.
"There will only be two other teams competing, Louisiana Monroe and Bradley University," Clinard said. "We really just formed the event because of a rain out at a previous tournament, so we still had viable competition days for the season, and it is always good to have a little more competition experience."
The Shootout will consist of two rounds, both of which will take place March 15.
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