The No. 1 Auburn Tigers men’s golf team wrapped up their appearance in the Valspar Collegiate Invitational in Palm City, Fla., this week, finishing as runner-up to No. 10 Texas Tech. This result marks the Tigers’ third runner-up finish in their last four invitationals. The final two days for the Tigers saw solid performances all around, but not enough to stop a surging Texas Tech team that combined to go 34 under over those two days. The finish leaves a somewhat bitter taste in the team's mouth after leading through the first two days, even going up by four shots after day one.
Auburn finished day one with every player scoring one under or better, with junior Jackson Koivun and freshman Jake Albert leading the way, each shooting six under. Koivun had a great back nine on day one, birdieing five of his final nine holes and tying for the second-best score of the day. Albert was the only Tiger all weekend to complete all 18 holes without shooting over par. Two scores of four under from junior Cayden Pope and sophomore Billy Davis, along with a one-under score from junior Josiah Gilbert, put the Tigers up four shots on the day and in a comfortable position heading into the final two rounds.
Texas Tech outscored the Tigers by seven shots on day two, leaving Auburn ahead by only two shots going into the final day. Three of the five Tigers in the lineup failed to outperform their day-one scores. Pope and Gilbert delivered the best performances of the day, with Pope recording his second consecutive round of four under. After a rough front nine in which he recorded no birdies, the junior bounced back with four birdies and one eagle on the final nine holes. Gilbert posted his best single-day score of the invitational at three under, while also recording the most birdies of any Tiger that day with six.
Day three proved to be the most challenging for the Tigers; only three players finished below par, and the team’s combined score of nine under was its worst of the invitational. Pope continued to stand out, however, shooting seven under on the back nine and finishing with a personal-best round of five under for the day. He ended the weekend tied for the third-best score among all participants at 13under. Texas Tech outscored Auburn by eight shots, winning the invitational by a total of six shots.
Despite recording the best scores on par fours and par fives in the event, along with shooting three more eagles than any other team, Auburn finished a combined nine over on par threes. This was the third-worst mark among the 16 teams and stood out as the clear weakness in an otherwise solid team performance.
Auburn will look to get back on top as it heads into the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tenn., two weeks from now.
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Jonathan is a freshman majoring in industrial and systems engineering. He started with The Plainsman in the fall of 2025.
