Auburn dominated the field at the Amer Ari Invitational matching the NCAA scoring record in a 77-under-par victory hosted by Mauna Lani Golf Club.
Jackson Koivun led the way for the Tigers with arguably the best performance in school history winning his sixth career tournament and finishing at 25-under for the tournament.
“It feels great to start the spring with a win individually and as a team," Koivun said. "We’ve all got some really big goals this season, so this is a great starting point to jump off from.”
Koivun obliterated Auburn’s 54-hole scoring record by seven strokes. As well as that he carded back-to-back 62's (-20) to start the tournament which is believed to be the best 36-hole score in college golf history.
The junior did all of this while only bogeying one hole the whole tournament. He finished with 24 birdies, one eagle, and 28 pars.
“Really, really proud of our guys this week,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “They started strong and kept their feet on the gas all week long. This is a tremendous tournament with tremendous competitors every year, and it’s one that has eluded us up until this point. This will be a great confidence boost and jumping off point to hopefully set us up for more record-breaking throughout the spring.”
This is Auburn first win at this event in 12 tries. The Texas Longhorns finished in second place and Auburn finished 13 strokes better than them.
While Koivun had an historic weekend some other Tigers also played extremely well. Junior Cayden Pope finished second in the field behind Koivun finishing at 20-under-par. Pope shot a nine-under-par in the final round which was tied for the highest score that day with none other than sophomore Auburn Tiger Billy Davis.
“My game felt good all week leading up to the event,” Pope said. “I had a good week of prep, and it showed. I was able to take advantage of how I hit the ball off the tee and gave myself a lot of chances. It was a great start for the team as well, which will give us a lot of confidence for the remainder of the season.”
Davis finished at 13-under-par on the weekend which was tied with freshmen teammate Jake Albert for third for the Tigers. They tied for 21st overall in the tournament.
Josiah Gilbert finished one shot back at 12-under-par. The Junior put together rounds of 65, 74 and 65. Lastly, freshmen Logan Rielly finished at 11-under-par.
The Tigers only had two rounds over par for the tournament. Even more impressive, every Tiger finished better than 10-under-par for the tournament.
The No. 5 Tigers get back to it in one week, as they're set to compete in the Gator Invitational in Florida on February 14-15.
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