No. 1 men’s golf ready for stacked field at Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational – Auburn Tigers

AUBURN, Ala. – Newly appointed as the nation’s top team, No. 1 Auburn men’s golf eyes its first hardware of the season, competing in the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational presented by Charles Schwab at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas. 

The tournament is set for Sept. 29-30 and includes a field of 15 teams, 13 of which are ranked inside the top 25.

“Tournaments like these are why you choose to play at Auburn,” head coach Nick Clinard said. “The 15 teams playing this week very well could be the final 15 teams left standing at La Costa come May. When the field is this good, you’ve got no choice but to sink or swim. It’ll be a tight race that very well could come down to a single shot when it’s all said and done.”

Alongside No. 1 Auburn, the field consists of No. 2 Arizona State, No. 5 Texas, No. 6 Vanderbilt, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 8 Virginia, No. 11 Alabama, No. 14 North Carolina, No. 16 Texas A&M, No. 18 Georgia Tech, No. 19 Texas Tech, No. 20 Pepperdine, No. 21 Georgia, RV Stanford and TCU. 

A shotgun start on Monday at 8 a.m. CT kickstarts the competition at Colonial. All teams will attempt to complete 36 holes on the first day. 

In the lineup for the Tigers are juniors Josiah Gilbert, Jackson Koivun and Cayden Pope, sophomore Billy Davis and freshman Jake Albert. It’s Koivun’s first outing of his junior season after missing the Honors Course Invitational to play in the Procore Championship, where he finished tied for fourth place. 

Without Koivun at the Honors Course, the Tigers still managed a second-place finish, five shots back of team champion, No. 2 Ole Miss. Gilbert shot 6-under to earn co-medalist with the Rebels’ Cameron Tankersly. Davis and Pope also finished in the top 15, shooting 2-under and 1-over, respectively. 

This week marks Auburn’s second straight year competing in the Hogan Collegiate after making its debut at the event in the fall of 2024. Last season, the Tigers shot 4-under to finish third behind Texas (-6) and winner Oklahoma (-10). Auburn’s top man was Brendan Valdes, who went 6-under to earn individual runner-up. Davis finished tied for third at 5-under. Gilbert was just inside the top 15 at 2-over. 

Live scoring for the 2025 Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational presented by Charles Schwab can be found at scoreboard.clippd.com.