Auburn, Caden Fioroni of UNLV secure wire-to-wire victories at Southern Highlands

March 4, 2025 | by Justin Golba of AmateurGolf.com

Caden Fioroni (UNLV Athletics Photo)

Without star Jackson Koivun, the Tigers won the team competition by 17 shots in Las Vegas

After finishing in second place last year to the Oklahoma Sooners, Auburn dominated the 2025 Southern Highlands Collegiate at Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nev., securing the wire-to-wire victory by ten shots over the field.

And that is without star Jackson Koivun.

Koivun is not playing due to his participation in the Arnold Palmer Invitational this week, but the Tigers still put together rounds of 287-287-281 to finish 9-under and win by ten shots. The Tigers were the only team to finish under par for the tournament.

Koivun is currently ranked No. 5 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings.

UNLV finished in solo second place at 1-over, and New Mexico is in solo third place at 7-over. Virginia finished in solo fourth place at 10-over, and 2024 champions Oklahoma finished T5 along with Pepperdine, Florida, and Texas A&M.

In the individual competition, Caden Fioroni of UNLV went wire-to-wire and finished 9-under to win by two shots over the field. The UNLV standout recorded rounds of 67-67-73 to secure his individual victory.

Fioroni shot an impressive 5-under 67 to take a three-shot lead into the second round and followed it up with another 5-under 67 to get to 10-under. He carded six birdies and one bogey, including birdies on holes No. 16, 17, and 18, to finish strong in the first round and recorded five birdies and no bogeys in the second round.

Fioroni is ranked No. 32 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings. The UNLV standout won the 2024 California Amateur and made the match play portion in the 2024 U.S. Amateur.

Carson Bachaof Auburn put together the round of the tournament with an 8-under 64 final round to jump all the way into solo second place at 7-under and almost chase down Fioroni. He recorded six birdies and an eagle, including birdies on holes No. 3 through 6.

Ben James, who is No. 2 in the Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World Rankings, finished in solo third place at 4-under. Two more Aubrun guys rounded out the top five, with Josiah Gilbert finishing in solo fourth place at 3-under and Brendan Valdes finishing in solo fifth place at 2-under.

This was Auburn’s first stroke play event win of the 2024-25 season.

Results: Southern Highlands Collegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Caden Fioroni	La Jolla, CA	800	67-67-73=207
2	Carson Bacha	York, PA	500	71-74-64=209
3	Ben James	Milford, CT	400	72-69-71=212
4	Josiah Gilbert	, Australia	400	70-69-74=213
5	Brendan Valdes	Orlando, FL	400	73-73-68=214