Auburn men's golf coach Nick Clinard may have a different opinion after his Tigers braved three days of high winds at the Albany Golf Club in Nassau, The Bahamas to win the inaugural Nexus Collegiate in a battle of attrition over Ohio State by three strokes with a score of 47-over par 911.
"Some of the hardest (conditions) I've witnessed in my 21 years as head coach," said Clinard.
It was Auburn's first team championship since winning their own Tiger Invitational last spring and the 38th team title under Clinard.
"I'm extremely proud of our guys for being patient and showing grit every day," said Clinard. "It is tough enough to win in our game as it is, so we are definitely excited to be collecting the hardware this week.
"We have much to improve if we want to make the jump from very good to great."
Ohio State's Maxwell Moldovan claimed his first collegiate individual title at 6-over 222, which earned the Buckeye sophomore a two-stroke win over Hunter Logan of Mississippi State.❗ First collegiate victory for Maxwell Moldovan ❗
— Ohio State Mens Golf (@OhioStateMGOLF) February 16, 2022
He wins the NEXUS Collegiate and the Buckeyes finish runner-up as a team#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/02Oj1zcnMY
Moldovan, who won the prestigious Southern Amateur in July with a record score of 20-under 264, carded rounds of 72-73-77 to secure his first win as a collegian. Prior to arriving in Columbus, the Uniontown, Ohio native won the AJGA's Rolex Player of the Year Award in 2019 along with a pair of Ohio High School State Championships (2017, '18) and was also crowned the 2019 Ohio Amateur.
Auburn sophomore J.M. Butler earned a share of second place with Logan and Charlotte's Dongjin Park at 8-over 224, while junior Auston Coggin secured his first career top-five finish, finishing fifth at 9-over 225. Carson Bacha tied for 10th along with North Florida sophomore Nick Gabrelcik at 14-over 230.