Auburn wins its first national championship in program history

May 29, 2024 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com

Auburn Men's Golf team (Auburn Athletics Photo)

J.M. Butler, Jackson Koivun, and Brendan Valdes won their matches to give Auburn the 3-2 win over Florida State

The Auburn men's golf team won a remarkable ten times this season, and suffice it to say, the tenth one will be the one they remember the most.

The top-ranked Tigers defeated Florida State 3-2 in the championship match to win the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Championship at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, Calif. This is the first national championship in the program's history and one that will cement the Tigers' status as one of the top teams in collegiate golf in the last 20-30 years.

Jackson Koivun, Brendan Valdes, and J.M. Butler won their matches to get Auburn its three winning points.

Butler won the decisive match over Luke Clanton of Florida State with a par on No. 17 after an impressive approach shot left him 10 feet for birdie. Clanton was just off the green and had to chip in to extend the match, and he gave it an amazing chance, just hitting the back of the hole and bouncing away.

"A college career isn't complete without a national championship, and we are lucky enough to have a conference and national championship," Butler told the Golf Channel after his round.

.@AuburnMGolf head coach Nick Clinard soaks in Auburn's first #NCAAGolf national championship after 15 years at the helm of the program. 🐅 @AuburnTigers pic.twitter.com/zvcIedfP1C
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) May 30, 2024

In the semifinals, The Tigers defeated Ohio State 3-2, with match wins from Butler, Valdes, and Koivun once again.

Butler defeated Neal Shipley, a rematch of the semifinals of the 2023 U.S. Amateur, where Shipley defeated Butler.

The freshman standout Koivun won the 2024 Ben Hogan Award and the 2024 Haskins Award. He also won the SEC championships by an impressive six shots.

Florida State defeated Georgia Tech 3-2 in the semifinals.

Christo Lamprecht, the No. 5 ranked player in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings, played for the first time since the opening round of stroke play. He fell to Luke Clanton 2&1 in his return.

Clanton, Tyler Weaver, and Frederik Kjettrup won matches, earning the Seminoles a spot in the championship match.

In the upset-heavy quarterfinals, the top four seeds in the match-play portion all fell.

In the semifinals, we saw a rematch of the ACC championship match, where this time around, Florida State defeated North Carolina 3-2 after falling to the Tar Heels 3-2 at the ACC. Brett Roberts, Weaver, and Clanton won the three matches for the Seminoles.

Also in the semifinals, Auburn defeated Virginia 3-1 behind wins from Koivun, Carson Bacha, and Josiah Gilbert in the quarterfinals.

In the stroke play portion, Hiroshi Tai of Georgia Tech won the individual title after shooting three rounds of 67-77-70-71 to finish 3-under, one shot better than six golfers, including Gordon Sargent of Vanderbilt, the No. 1 ranked player in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.

Tai was the first-round leader after posting a 5-under 67. He started his first round on the back nine and birdied the par-5 10th. He turned to the front nine at 2-under and birdied holes No. 1, 2, 4, and 9 with a bogey on No. 5 to get into the clubhouse at 5-under.

Results: NCAA Division I Championship

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Hiroshi Tai	, Singapore	1500	67-77-70-71=285
T2	Tyler Goecke	Xenia, OH	900	73-73-69-71=286
T2	Luke Clanton	Miami Lakes, FL	900	71-74-70-71=286
T2	Jackson Koivun	Chapel Hill, NC	900	71-72-72-71=286
T2	Gordon Sargent	Mountain Brook, AL	900	75-69-70-72=286

View full results for NCAA Division I Championship

About the NCAA Division I Championship

Auburn wins its first national championship in program history

The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship is the pinnacle of collegiate golf in the United States, held annually in late May or early June. The event brings together the nation's top 30 teams and six individual qualifiers, all of whom have advanced...