No Jackson Koivun, no problem as Auburn runs away with Southern Highlands title

By Auburn’s heightened standards, the start of its 2024-25 season could be characterized as slow.

The defending national champions hadn’t won a tournament this season, but it’s not as if they were playing poorly. The Tigers, ranked second in the NCAA golf rankings, returned a stout lineup with plenty of depth, but when it came to breaking through for the first win of the year, it hadn’t happened yet.

The tipping point came Tuesday at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, and it happened with Auburn’s best player on the other side of the country.

The Tigers dominated in the desert, finishing at 9-under 855 for the week at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas. They were the only school in the 15-team field to finish under par, beating host UNLV by 10 shots. And as mentioned, Auburn did that without sophomore Jackson Koivun, the reigning national Player of the Year who is competing in this week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational on the PGA Tour.

Auburn had three top-five finishers individually, led by Carson Bacha’s runner-up showing. The senior shot 8-under 64 in the final round and finished at 7 under for the tournament, two shots behind UNLV’s Caden Fioroni, who took home medalist honors.

Josiah Gilbert finished solo fourth at 3 under while senior Brendan Valdes placed fifth at 2 under for the week. Ryan Eshleman tied for 12th at 3 over.

Auburn won nine stroke-play events in 2024 en-route to winning the SEC title, regional crown and national championship. This year, the Tigers haven’t finished worse than fourth in seven stroke-play events, but the win was elusive.

Until Tuesday.

“We put a guy on the bench this week, and they wanted to make sure they made a statement without him,” Clinard said jokingly.

UNLV, New Mexico and Virginia rounded out the top four finishing teams.