The 17th hole on the Grand National Lakes Course has not been kind to Ben Schlottman in the past, most notably when he double bogeyed and bogeyed the hole in his two rounds at last summer’s Barbasol Championship on his way to missing the cut by two strokes.
When he connected with his tee shot on the par-3 Monday afternoon in the second round of the Tiger Invitational, Schlottman’s ball sailed right of the green. Instead of landing softly and providing a downhill chip onto the green, the ball kicked off the root of a pine tree and sped across the green, missing the pin by only a foot.
It finally came to rest on a bank just a few feet from the neighboring lake, and it looked as if Schlottman could have yet another bad experience on the hole. Instead, he went up-and-down to save par — and exorcise his demons.
“That was a really good time to save par,” Schlottman said. “I was getting pretty frustrated after the double on 15, and hit a really good shot on 16, and it wasn’t really close to the hole. It was really big for me to make that putt and get to 18.”
The All-American sophomore tied for the low round of the day with a 3-under-par 69, but he was one of few bright spots for Auburn.
The Tigers struggled down the stretch, squandering a 10-stroke lead with bad play down the stretch.
Matt Gilchrest, who led the tournament after the first round, closed the day with consecutive double bogeys to finish 4-over 75 on Monday.
Auburn’s No. 1 player — Michael Johnson — had an inconsistent round, carding three birdies but also three bogeys and a double bogey.
“They played good until the last four or five holes and then didn’t finish very well,” said Auburn coach Nick Clinard. “We dropped probably 10 or 12 shots, so pretty disappointing overall.”
The rough finish leaves Auburn perched just two shots above Troy on the leaderboard heading into the third and final round. The hosts will play with Troy and Kennesaw State on Tuesday, but Clinard wants his players to focus more on their game than the competition.
“We’re not worried about Troy,” he said. “We’re worried about Auburn and trying to get better.”
Even after the disappointing finish to the second round, Gilchrest is locked in a four-way tie for third three strokes back. Schlottman sits one stroke off the lead individually, behind only Troy’s Luke Moser.
Schlottman will take the same approach in the final round as the one that landed him his best round since the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate late fall.
“It’s just about confidence and knowing that you’re still hitting it great and can make some birdies coming in,” Schlottman said. “Just be aggressive. Go for pins when you can, play it safe when you can’t. This course will hand out plenty of bogies, so par is a good score on every hole.”
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