Tiger Golfers Hope to Deal With the Fire

Auburn, Ala.--Auburn received a ninth straight NCAA Men’s Golf Tournament bid on Monday and learned it will play at the east regional from May 17-19 in Chattanooga.

Auburn, which is ranked 16th nationally, is the number six seed in the 27-team field at the Council Fire Golf Club.

Ten teams in each of three regionals will advance to the NCAA Men’s Golf Championship, which is scheduled May 28-31 at The Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Ind., the home of Purdue University.

Auburn coach Mike Griffin, whose Tigers have made 18 NCAA postseason appearances in the last 20 years, says the bid is no surprise. “It is what we expect with our program, and we enjoy competing for championships.”

Auburn will be joined at the east regional by four other SEC teams--No. 2 ranked Georgia, No. 12 South Carolina, Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Alabama, which is ranked No. 1, will play in the central regional in Columbus Ohio with No. 6 Florida, No. 11 Tennessee and Arkansas. Two other SEC teams, Kentucky and LSU, will travel to Bremerton, Wash., to compete in the west regional.

“It shows once again the east is absolutely dominant,” Griffin says. “The SEC and the ACC dominates. Eleven SEC teams made it and Vanderbilt, the only league team not to, had an individual make it in Jon Curran. It is a golf course where we are going to have to go low.”

Jay Moseley and the Tigers will try to advance to the nationals.

The Tigers are led by All-SEC senior Jay Moseley, who is averaging 71.40 strokes per round.

Other ranked teams in the east region with Auburn include No. 9 UNC-Charlotte, No. 13 Duke No. 20 Michigan State and No. 21 East Tennessee State.

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