As Auburn’s golfers stood off the side of the 18th green watching the completion of the third and final round of the Tiger Invitational, there were no smiles or high-fives.
Instead they gazed across the rolling Bent grass at the Troy golfers, who were celebrating after capturing the team title on Auburn’s home turf — the Lakes course at Grand National in Opelika.
“Losing’s no fun, but we’re really good. We’re one of the best teams in the country,” Auburn coach Nick Clinard said. “We just weren’t sharp this week. Golf’s a funny game. … It’s hard to put your hands around [what went wrong] in our game because it’s such a fine line. We weren’t real sharp around the greens.”
After leading by 10 strokes at one point on Day Two of the tournament, Auburn entered the final round up by just two shots.
That small lead quickly evaporated.
Troy raced to the top spot on the front nine behind strong efforts from Calum Masters and Cam Norman, who carded a combined 12 birdies in the round.
The Trojans stretched their lead to six strokes on the back nine, but Auburn did not go gently into that good night.
The Tigers roared back to tie the Trojans for the lead after the 17th hole thanks to three Troy bogeys but, as it had been all week, No. 18 was too much for Auburn to overcome.
Michael Johnson and Jake Mondy each carded a bogey, and Matt Gilchrest double bogeyed to give Troy its final three-stroke margin. Auburn shot 9-over on 18 as a team over the three-day tournament.
The final stretch was especially hurtful for Gilchrest, who struggled down the stretch in the second and third rounds.
The All-SEC junior fired consecutive double bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18 on Monday, but he climbed back into the lead in the final round with five birdies through the first 13 holes. He teed off on the par-3 17th with a two-stroke lead on the field, but a bogey on that hole and a double bogey on 18 sent him down the leaderboard into a tie for third with teammate Michael Johnson.
Even with the disappointing finish, Clinard was encouraged by the way Gilchrest played for the majority of the three rounds.
“He had a rough spell there for about eight months, but he’s back to playing the way he’s capable,” Clinard said. “He’s got a chance to win anytime he tees it off. … He’s disappointed right now, but he’s the type of kid where golf doesn’t define who he is. He leans on his faith, and he’ll be OK in about an hour. He’ll move onto the next one.”
The defeat was Auburn’s first in the tournament since the inaugural Tiger Invitational in 2012, when it finished third. The Tigers have a quick turnaround, as they play next weekend at the Seminole Intercollegiate in Tallahassee, Florida.
Auburn will look to play spoiler in Florida State’s homecoming, just as Troy did this weekend.
“I think playing at home is sometimes easier, because you’re sleeping in your own bed and you’re comfortable in your environment,” Clinard said. “I think it’s also harder because you put a lot of pressure on yourself. Not only from a coaching staff, but I think just from 18-,19-, 20-year-old kids. They know they should play well; they know they should win. And when they don’t, I think it’s a pretty big disappointment.”
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