October 31, 2024 • by Scoreboard / Photography: East Lake Cup
Auburn edges Georgia Tech to take title at the 10th East Lake Cup and clinch first win of the fall. ‘I learned that we have a lot of heart, and we’ve got a lot of guts, and we’ve got some guys that can flat-out play,’ says Auburn Head Coach Nick Clinard.
After seven straight wins to close out its record-breaking National Championship-winning season, Auburn has been in the conversation at every tournament this fall but it’s been a case of close but no cigar.
The Tigers came into their final event of the fall season on a run of top-3 finishes, most recently a pair of thirds at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational and The Williams Cup.
After 18 holes of stroke play and a match play semi-final, Georgia Tech stood in its way, impressive winners in Illinois earlier this fall and the best team by one shot in the qualifying round at the newly renovated East Lake GC.
On Monday, after watching three of his players go down the 18th hole in his team’s 4-1 semi-final win over Ohio State, Head Coach Bruce Heppler felt his players had pressed their home course advantage.
‘Hopefully the few extra rounds that we got because we're members here and played a little bit... is helping. It’s very demanding. If you hit it in the wrong spot, it’s tough.’
In Tuesday’s championship match, Coach Clinard again chose red-shirt senior Ryan Eshleman as his leadoff player and for the second day running Eshleman repaid him, securing a hard-fought 1 up victory over Georgia Tech junior Aiden Tran.
Freshman Albert Hansson (below) hit back for the Yellow Jackets with a rock solid display in a 2 up win over Auburn’s Brendan Valdes, currently #3 in PGA Tour U.
The Tigers then went ahead again as red-shirt senior Carson Bacha birdied four of the last five holes to win 2 up against GA Tech sophomore Kale Fontenot, before GA Tech tied it up again at 2-2 as red-shirt junior Benjamin Reuter cruised to a 2&1 victory over Josiah Gilbert.
In the anchor match Auburn sophomore Jackson Koivun, winner of the 2024 Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan and Outstanding Freshman Awards, faced 2024 NCAA Individual Champion Hiroshi Tai.
After a scrappy start by both players, Koivun reeled off 11 pars in a row from the 4th. The sequence was eventually broken on the 17th as Koivun made a birdie that put a bow on a 2&1 win and, more importantly, a first fall season team win for Auburn.
‘It felt great to come out on top as a team,’ Koivun told the Auburn Tigers website. ‘We knew we left some wins out there this fall. There were some moments we couldn’t capitalize on, but we did this week. It feels great and gives us some good momentum and motivation to take into the spring.’
Auburn head coach Nick Clinard echoed those sentiments: ‘The excitement level is high going into the off-season, getting back into the gym, getting back into some of the skill instruction that we do and getting a break, a chance to get away from the game and getting ready to go in the spring.’