Auburn University’s men’s golf team will compete at The Hayt tournament from March 7 to 9 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Head coach Nick Clinard emphasized the importance of this stage in the season for finalizing the team’s most competitive lineup.
“We’re at a crucial part in our season where we’ve got to start figuring out what our most competitive lineup is,” Auburn head coach Nick Clinard said. “These six guys have done a tremendous job of working hard to separate themselves since the fall. The Hayt is not only a chance to play great teams on a great course but also a massive opportunity for our players to make their case on an even playing field for who ultimately belongs in that postseason five.”
The lineup features the same starting five who played earlier in Las Vegas, along with sophomore Billy Davis competing as an individual. At Southern Highlands, Jackson Koivun and Jake Albert led Auburn by finishing third and fourth, respectively.
Jake Albert outperformed his closest freshman teammate by seven shots and received SEC Freshman of the Week honors for the third time this semester.
This spring, Auburn has participated in three events and finished no lower than second place each time. The Tigers opened with a win at the Amer Ari Invitational in Hawai’i and followed up with runner-up finishes at The Gator Invitational and Southern Highlands. Koivun has been Auburn’s top performer throughout these tournaments, winning individually in the first two events and placing third most recently.
Auburn returns to The Hayt for the first time since 2019. Their last victory at this event was in 2018 when they edged North Carolina by one stroke.
The field includes several ranked teams: No. 1 Virginia, No. 6 LSU, No. 11 Texas Tech, No. 15 Alabama, No. 17 North Carolina (the Tarheels), No. 20 Duke, No. 21 Charlotte, as well as Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Liberty, Louisville, North Florida, South Carolina, South Florida and UCF.
Virginia won the previous event at Southern Highlands Collegiate by one stroke over Auburn while South Carolina finished tied for twelfth place.
For Saturday’s opening round, Auburn will begin teeing off from hole one starting at 7:20 a.m. CT with groups including players from LSU and Texas Tech; Davis will play alongside individuals from Coastal Carolina and UCF.
Live scoring will be available throughout the tournament on scoreboard.clippd.com.
