Tigers Move Up at NCAA East Regional

Chattanooga, Tenn.--Auburn moved up from eighth place to a tie for third in the second round of the NCAA East Regional Golf Tournament at Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga on Friday.

The Tigers shot a seven-under-par round on day two to move to 10-under going into Saturday’s final round. The top 10 teams in the 27-team advance to the NCAA Championships.

Auburn has a team score of 558. Middle Tennessee State and Michigan State are on the bubble in a tie for 10th place at 564, four shots ahead of Duke.

Everybody is well behind No. 1 ranked Georgia. The Bulldogs continued to sizzle on day two as they shot a day’s best round of 13-under to move to 32 under par for two days of golf. That puts UGA 19 strokes ahead of second place Augusta State, an unranked team.

Auburn, which is ranked 16th and 46th-ranked Cal-Irvine, are tied for third 22 strokes off the pace.

Mississippi State is in fifth at eight-under par, one shot ahead of UAB and New Mexico State. Host UT-Chattanooga and UNC-Charlotte are tied for eighth.

Gordon Strother, who came out smoking and got seven strokes under par, fell back to a three-under 68 to lead the Tigers on Friday. He is tied for 11th at 137 with teammate Glenn Northcutt, who shot a 70.

Patton Kizzire chipped in with a 69 on Friday and is at 140. Jay Moseley shot a 70 and is at 145. Stephen Groover’s 76 did not count on Friday. He is at 147.

“We had a good round today,” Auburn coach Mike Griffin said. “We left a lot of strokes out on the back nine, but we are right where we need to be to make a run for qualification.

“I’m real pleased with the way our guys stepped up and provided separation from some of the field. Hopefully, tomorrow we can come out and take a top 10 finish and get to nationals.”

UAB’s Zach Sucher shot a course record 62 to move into the lead with a 131.

Auburn tees off at 6 a.m. CDT for Saturday’s final round of the regional.

Scoreboard

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