Auburn shattered records in its spring-opening win in Hawaii, but the Tigers are already aiming higher. What’s next?
Here’s how the No. 2 Tigers use strong drivers to their advantage — and what they have their eyes on next.
The Auburn men’s golf team took the red-eye flight back from Hawaii on Sunday, triumphant. Their trip from the Plains to paradise and back again could not have been more successful: Auburn won the Amer Ari Invitational last weekend matching the NCAA scoring record at a whopping 77-under. The Tigers raced away from second-place Texas by 13 strokes. Team ace Jackson Koivun won in the individual standings, crushing the school’s 54-hole record at 25-under. He set the NCAA’s national 36-hole record in the first two rounds, a record previously set by Tiger Woods. Auburn’s Tigers rolled back into town on Sunday as record setters, as tournament winners, and seemingly on top of their game, if a bit jet-lagged.
Then? “On Monday, every single guy was at the facility practicing,” Auburn associate head coach Chris Williams said.
Williams’ desk stands under a window that overlooks Auburn’s driving range at AU Club. It’s quite a different view from the palm trees and lava rocks that line the course they played last weekend at the Mauna Lani Resort — but it’s home. And, it’s where the Tigers regrouped this week before taking a swing at their next goal for this season.
“I think these guys are pretty motivated,” Williams explained on Tuesday. “Some of them, you know, Cayden (Pope) and Jackson and Josiah (Gilbert), have that taste of a national championship two years ago, and I think they’ve relayed that to the younger guys: There’s no better feeling in any sport — which we play an individual sport but we have a team aspect — of winning as a team. That’s something you’ll never forget. So, in terms of keeping these guys rolling, I don’t think there’s going to be any problem with that. The motivation is there.”
Case in point: