Heading into the 2025 SEC Men’s Golf Championships, coach Nick Clinard and the No. 2 Auburn Tigers haven’t shied away from stating their goal is to win another title in Sea Island, Georgia. Playing alongside top-ranked Ole Miss and No. 3 Texas in Wednesday’s opening round, Auburn blitzed the field with a round of -16 to take a seven-shot lead on LSU and Texas A&M following the first 18 holes of stroke play. The field will be cut to the Top 8 after 54 holes to begin match play on Saturday.
With the goal of winning the stroke play portion and being the top seed heading into match play, Auburn got off to a great start on Wednesday.
“The guys played great,” Clinard tells Auburn Undercover. “I thought their state of mind was really good. Yesterday throughout the practice round, I thought their preparation work was key. That’s something we harp on all year, the prep. They feel comfortable here. They’re not afraid of the moment. I thought they hit a lot of good shots. We gave away two shots on the last hole when (Brendan) Valdes made double, but other than that it was a pretty good day.”
Leading the way for Auburn were a pair of true sophomores, Josiah Gilbert and Cayden Pope. The first two guys out for the Tigers on the course Wednesday morning, they were a combined seven under par on the front nine to set the tone for the day. Gilbert finished with a round of -6 (64) while Pope was right behind with a 65 in round one. Clinard said the duo definitely came to play on Wednesday.
‘It was huge,” Clinard said. “I thought they came out and immediately hit a lot of good shots. Once again, they are young guys and sophomores but they were one of the best recruiting classes in the country with Josiah and Cayden and Jackson (Koivun) together. I think they proved it today.”
With the two sophomores setting the tone, classmate Koivun fired a round of 67 while Valdes’ round of 68 finished the counting scores for the Tigers. Senior Carson Bacha’s round of one-under par closed out the day for the Tigers.
Now they turn their attention to building the lead on day two in their goal of winning stroke play. That’s something that Clinard said it’s a very verbal goal for this team and he likes that mindset.
“We want to play good every day and do our best,” Clinard said. “We want to win the stroke play and we don’t hide from talking about that in our team meetings. We just need to make sure we stay where our feet are and stay in the present and push the gas tomorrow. We’ve got to go out and try to get to 30-under tomorrow.”
Day one standings
1.Auburn -16
2.LSU -9
2.Texas A&M -9
4.Oklahoma -6
5.Florida -5
6.Georgia -4
7.South Carolina -3
8.Miss. State -1
8.Alabama -1
10.Ole Miss +1
10.Arkansas +1
10.Kentucky +1
13.Missouri +3
14.Tennessee +6
14.Texas +6
16.Vanderbilt +12