The Auburn Tigers' men's golf team ended the fall season in a big way at The Clerico at Southern Hills CC in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Led by individual champion Josiah Gilbert at three under, the Tigers took home the team championship at seven over, winning by 6 shots.
The junior’s bogey-free second round 64 was the low tournament score, setting him up beautifully to win. The Tigers had two other top 10 finishers, junior Jackson Koivun and sophomore Billy Davis, shooting three and four over, finishing fifth and seventh, respectively. Freshman Jake Gilbert and senior Cayden Pope both secured top 20 finishes.
Auburn’s win came in spite of high-class competition, including 2025 National Champion Oklahoma State and other top-20 teams like New Mexico and Texas Tech. Long-time Auburn men’s golf head coach Nick Clinard spoke on the significance of finishing strong before the Tigers’ final fall season tournament.
“We’ve had some bumps in the road and have faced some challenges this fall, so what I am really looking to see is who is going to respond in a positive way,” he said. We want to end the fall on a high note to set us up for a productive winter break.”
Southern Hills is a world-renowned course that has played host to five PGA Championships. the most of any course. The most recent PGA Championship at Southern Hills took place in 2022, and the next is scheduled for 2032. With a scoring average four shots over par at 74.58, the course showed why it’s a major venue. Such a difficult course proved to be a great test for the Tigers, as every player on the team has PGA Tour aspirations.
The Tigers will look to take this momentum from The Clerico into the winter offseason as they gear up for a big spring to make a push for another national championship.
