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golfdigest.com

Auburn's golfer of destiny leads Tigers to first NCAA men's golf title

By

7–9 minutes

CARLSBAD, Calif. — A story was making the rounds on Wednesday evening about the meeting J.M. Butler, then a high school senior, had with Auburn men’s golf coach Nick Clinard in his office. The recruit from Louisville, Ky., said very passionately that he wanted to win a national championship in his college career. It didn’t matter that he would be coming to a Tigers program that had never reached the summit.

It made for a tidy full-circle tale when Butler, a senior, secured the winning point on Wednesday as top-ranked Auburn did capture its first national title with a tense 3-2 victory over Florida State at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa to cap the 2024 NCAA Championship. But there are dozens of junior golfers who walk into a coach’s office and say they want to lift a trophy. It’s what they do to make that happen, and in Butler the Tigers got the player who would see it to the finish.

“It’s just a matter of following through and making sure that their commitments match their goals. That’s the biggest thing,” Clinard said on the La Costa North Course’s 17th green as his team celebrated in the background.

“I’ve never seen anybody work as hard as he does,” the coach added of Butler. “He’s so committed on and off the course to be the best version of himself every day.”

Butler described the journey more dramatically. “I just believe it was my destiny,” he said. “I always knew. I just always knew I was going to work as hard as I can every single day. And it didn't matter what was in front of me. As long as I had my teammates, that's all I needed.”

Butler, whose previous time in the national spotlight came when he reached the semifinals of last year’s U.S. Amateur Championship at Cherry Hills, went out as Auburn’s anchor in the No. 5 match against Florida State’s Luke Clanton for good reason: In Tuesday’s quarterfinals and semifinals, Butler didn’t trail once. And though Clinard certainly hoped his team might wrap up the match before needing Butler, he knew there was only one guy to put into that last spot.

“We knew he had a lot of guts, and he had a lot of heart, and he refuses to lose,” Clinard said.

Head coach Nick Clinard of the Auburn Tigers celebrates with the trophy as his team looks on after defeating Florida State.

C. Morgan Engel

In drawing Clanton, who entered the tournament ranked eighth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, the 38th-ranked Butler faced an enormous test. And, with the teams trading two wins each in the afternoon’s earlier matches, the focus of about a thousand fans trailing the final twosome was intense.

There were only five holes won between the two over the first 11, and then Butler got the lead when Clanton bogeyed the long par-3 12th. His lead remained 1 up until the short, par-4 15th, when Clanton’s driving-iron tee shot found the first cut of rough, and he suffered a cruel break on the approach when his ball barely rolled over the steep bank behind the green and into the water.

With Butler 2 up, both men faced the ornery tee shot over water at the par-3 16th. Butler skied a beautiful wedge that found the very firm green, but his ball managed to trickle into the back bunker. Clanton matched with his own great shot that stayed on the green, but Butler produced a clutch bunker shot to concession range, and Clanton missed his birdie chance.

Clanton then needed to win the 17th to take the match to 18, but he drove into a fairway bunker and couldn’t get to the green with the second, while Butler was safely on in two. Then, after taking the flagstick out for his pitch, Clanton watched as his ball motored toward the hole, only to hit the back of the cup and bounce out. Might the flagstick have helped?

"He hit a great shot and it just had a little too much speed on it. Maybe if that flag was in, it could have changed it a little bit," FSU head coach Trey Jones said. "If it would have hit the pin and bounced out, we would have been sitting here saying, ‘Why didn’t he pull it?’ That’s the thing about golf."

Butler couldn’t make his birdie, but Clanton, with tears in his eyes, conceded, and Butler’s Auburn teammates rushed onto the green, eventually tackling their leader to the ground.

Minutes later, Butler still looked shellshocked. “I haven't really taken it in yet,” said Butler, wh confirmed that he will turn professional next week. “I feel still like I need to go to the 18th hole and hit a tee shot. I'm just kind of relieved and a little sore from all my guys tackling.”

The contrast of emotions was painfully obvious on the 17th green, with an inconsolable Clanton being surrounded and supported by his teammates. For a time, Clanton still held his wedge and golf glove in his hand.

"There’s no words for it," Jones said. "You can’t say I’ve been there before and it will be OK; they don’t want to hear that. You only get so many chances at a national championship, and you’re either very fortunate and you’re blessed the opportunity to win one. It didn’t go our way. We didn’t win. Golf is hard."

Later, after he’d posed for photos with his team, Clanton said, “All five of us out there playing today was a goal we were looking for over the last 364 days. To fall just short is really hard to handle, especially with the guys who are leaving. Those guys are brothers to me. I really wanted to give them a national championship.”

Auburn was the dominant team all season, losing only nine times in head-to-head matchups against all teams, and the Tigers won an impressive 10 tournaments, including a seventh straight with the national title. "I think that goes down as one of the best teams in the history of college golf,” Clinard said.

Still, all of that success created enormous pressure on the Tigers to finish it off, and things looked shaky in the early going of the final, with the Seminoles taking the lead in three matches early on.

Florida State, which finished the season at No. 6 in the rankings and was making its first championship match appearance, would get its two victories from a senior and freshman. In Match 1, Cole Anderson staved off a rally from Carson Bacha, 1 up, in the only battle that reached 18. And first-year player Tyler Weaver captured Match 3 over fellow freshman Josiah Gilbert, 2 and 1.

But Auburn was able to answer with a trio of newly named All-Americans in the final three slots. Freshman Jackson Koivun, winner of the season’s Ben Hogan and Fred Haskins awards, played up to his billing by capturing three straight holes to defeat FSU senior Brett Roberts, 5 and 4. And in the penultimate match, Auburn junior Brendan Valdes, another first-team All-American, came back from an early deficit by winning five of the last nine holes to beat Seminoles senior and No. 13-ranked Frederik Kjettrup.

The title for Auburn was a long time coming, with the Tigers having made 28 previous trips to the NCAA finals, while only making the match-play cut once.

"It doesn’t even feel real to be quite honest,” said Clinard, who is in his 15th season at Auburn’s helm. “We worked so hard for this, and I just got some great players and some great young men. I'm just so happy for them. It's all about them.”

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nbcsports.com

'This was my destiny': Inside the team that brought Auburn its first national men's golf title - NBC Sports

Brentley Romine

12–15 minutes

CARLSBAD, Calif. – The seating area in Bar Traza, Omni La Costa Resort and Spa’s late-night spot for libations and light bites, was jam-packed with Auburn supporters when Tigers senior J.M. Butler walked into the room, still donning his national-championship T-shirt.

The ovation was deafening.

Just a couple hours earlier, Butler had capped a dominant match-play performance with a 2-and-1 victory over Florida State’s Luke Clanton that earned Butler the clinching point and Auburn its first NCAA Championship in men’s golf.

That’s exactly what Butler promised Tigers head coach Nick Clinard as a high-school senior, sitting in Clinard’s office on a recruiting visit and proclaiming, “I want to win a national championship, and if I come to Auburn, that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Here he is now,” Clinard said, “a senior, on his last hole of college golf, and he got it done for us.”

Added Butler: “This was my destiny.”

The top-ranked team in the country entering the week, Auburn not only won 10 stroke-play tournaments, two shy of Cal’s modern-day NCAA record (12, 2012-13), but the Tigers also lost to just nine teams all season – five of those losses came in stroke play at La Costa – and completed the year with a perfect 8-0 record in match play, a ledger topped by Wednesday’s thrilling 3-2 win over fifth-ranked Florida State.

“I told them before we got here, if they won this golf tournament, they could go down as one of the best teams in the history of college golf,” Clinard said, “and I think we’ve accomplished that.”

It took a village.

•••

IN TRUE ROCKY BALBOA fashion, Butler can often be found scaling the thousands of steps at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Most times, he’s alone. And when he’s not doing that, he’s in the gym.

“He’s a big fitness guy,” Clinard says.

Butler, a psychology major who will graduate this summer before embarking on his professional career, says he’s constantly studying the greatest athletes of all-time – how they train, how they think, how they control their breathing. As a Louisville native, Butler especially idolizes legendary boxer Muhammad Ali.

“I’m just trying to figure out what made them great,” Butler said, “and how I can take what they do and add that to my game.”

Butler is only the second player in program history to achieve All-SEC status four times. He spent time as the nation’s top-ranked player as a sophomore, though he truly broke out at last summer’s U.S. Amateur, advancing to the semifinals at Cherry Hills before falling to Ohio State’s Neal Shipley.

On Tuesday at La Costa, Butler got his revenge on Shipley, downing the reigning Masters low amateur, 2 and 1, to help send the Tigers to their first NCAA final. Butler never trailed in any match at nationals, and for the season, he went 6-2 in the format.

For Clinard, despite a “rocky spring” that saw Butler win twice but also finish T-49 or worse three times prior to the postseason, there was no other player he wanted in the anchor spot.

“He’s the guy who wants the golf ball in his hands,” Clinard said. “He just hit clutch shot after clutch shot. A lot of guts, and a lot of heart.”

Butler didn’t lead Clanton, a three-time winner this spring, by more than 1 up until the par-4 15th hole, when Clanton sent his approach bounding over the green, down a steep slope and into the water. Butler then nearly holed a bunker shot at the par-3 16th before sealing the deal with a routine par at the par-4 penultimate hole, where Clanton’s birdie chip hit the back of the cup and bounced out, sending Clanton collapsing to the ground; he’d lay on his back for several seconds.

Moments later, Butler was being mobbed by his teammates, who tackled him to the ground. No uppercut needed.

Still sore from the celebration, Butler said, “I don’t know how you can beat this.”

•••

 

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 28: Jackson Koivun of the Auburn Tigers celebrates with a teammate after defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes in the semifinals during the Division I Men’s Golf Championship held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on May 28, 2024 in Carlsbad, California. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

NCAA Photos via Getty Images

FOR THE FIRST TIME since Alabama’s Justin Thomas in 2012, a freshman won the Haskins Award, the sport’s only player of the year that is selected by players and coaches. That was Jackson Koivun, who also claimed the Hogan and Nicklaus awards, plus the Phil Mickelson Award as the nation’s top freshman.

“He was the best player in the country coming in,” Clinard said, “but I didn’t think he was going to do this.”

The soft-spoken Koivun finished sixth or better in all but one of his 12 starts. He won the SEC individual title by a whopping six shots and went a perfect 8-0 in match play. In the quarterfinals and semifinals, it was Koivun who made the clinching putt for the Tigers. Not surprising if you consider that Auburn volunteer assistant Buddy Alexander, who won two NCAA titles as Florida’s head coach, called Koivun, “The best putter I’ve ever seen at that age.”

And Alexander coached a guy by the name of Brian Gay.

“He’s dynamic with the flatstick in his hands,” Clinard added.

Perhaps the only weakness in Koivun’s game is his chipping. But what did he do Wednesday to put away Brett Roberts, 5 and 4? He chipped in from behind the 14th green.

“I walked by Brendan Valdes after that, and he goes, “Oh, I guess Jackson let you out of work early today,’” Clinard said, laughing. “He’s just a winner.”

With as much as Koivun accomplished individually this season, he’d never smiled as wide as he did Wednesday night when asked how an NCAA team title compared.

“This tops all of them,” he said.

•••

SPEAKING OF SMILING, NO one on the Auburn team does it more than Valdes, the junior from Orlando, Florida, who Clinard says has an infectious personality.

“Buddy always tells me, look like you’re having a joyous time,” Valdes said.

After winning four of five holes Wednesday against Frederik Kjettrup to flip their match and take a 3-up lead after 10 holes, Valdes was downright buzzing. Five holes later, Valdes was a 4-and-3 winner.

Valdes also joined Koivun as a first-team All-American, and he might be the most athletic person on the team, according to Clinard. Valdes is a former gymnast who excelled in all five disciplines. He can clear a 48-inch box jump and hovers around 185 mph ball speed. And when he gets hot, he can rattle off birdies with the best of them.

“He’s going to do very well on the Tour,” Clinard said, “because he’s going to have seven to eight weeks where he shoots 20 under.”

•••

 

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 29: Josiah Gilbert of the Auburn Tigers tees off against the Florida State Seminoles in the championship match during the Division I Men’s Golf Championship held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on May 29, 2024 in Carlsbad, California. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

NCAA Photos via Getty Images

CLINARD WAS SPEAKING TO a group of Alabama high school golf coaches a few years ago when one pulled him aside and said, “There’s a kid who just moved here from Australia who you should look at.”

“I’m like, yeah, I’ve heard that one before,” Clinard recalled.

The coach, who coached at a rival high school, replied, “It would be worth your time.”

That kid was Josiah Gilbert.

The son of Jeremy Gilbert, the director of instruction at Capitol Hill in Prattville, Alabama, and the oldest of five siblings, Gilbert never had his own room until moving into his dorm at Auburn. Though under the radar, largely due to the pandemic, Gilbert picked the Tigers over rival Alabama.

But he went eight starts before finally cracking the starting lineup for Auburn at its final event leading into conference, the Mossy Oak Collegiate. Clinard admits he “rolled the dice a little bit” in inserting Gilbert into the counting squad, but he loved his PGA Tour-level skillset. Plus, back in January, Alexander had told Clinard that Gilbert would be in the postseason lineup.

“Just you wait,” Alexander said to Clinard, who was skeptical at the time.

Gilbert took the opportunity and ran with it. He finished solo fifth as the Tigers swept the top five finishing positions. He then closed SECs with a bogey-free 68 before going 3-0 in match play, and he followed that with another top-5 at the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.

“I feel like it’s just a matter of time before some of us find our groove,” Gilbert said, “and that’s what I did this spring.”

•••

CARSON BACHA IS THE type of kid, Clinard says, who you’d want you daughter to marry. He’s a skilled ball-striker, a finance major who holds a 3.5 GPA, and unquestionably the smartest worker on the team.

But after a T-11 finish at Auburn’s fall opener, the Mirabel Maui Jim Intercollegiate, Bacha fell out of the lineup. At least until the calendar hits April, Clinard has his players qualify for every spot; Bacha wasn’t playing poorly, he was just on the wrong end of a deep roster.

“It makes you tougher at the end of the year,” Clinard says of his methods.

Bacha, who began working with instructor Mark Blackburn this season to correct his tendency to sometimes over-draw the golf ball, responded, posting six straight top-6 finishes entering SECs. He never surrendered his place in the lineup after that.

“Coach always talks about how this sort of stuff takes all of us, and we’re constantly pushing each other back home,” Bacha said. “Qualifying is one of the hardest tournaments we play all year. Obviously, it’s great to have that kind of depth, and you’re really working hard at home, and when you’re able to break through in qualifying, it really builds confidence.”

•••

 

CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 29: Head coach Nick Clinard of the Auburn Tigers celebrates with the trophy as his team looks on after defeating the Florida State Seminoles in the championship match during the Division I Men’s Golf Championship held at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa on May 29, 2024 in Carlsbad, California. (Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

NCAA Photos via Getty Images

AFTER PROFESSIONAL GOLF DIDN’T work out, Clinard figured his next step would be as a golf instructor. Then, in 2001, UCF was looking for a head men’s golf coach.

So, Clinard dialed then Knights’ athletic director, Steve Sloan, who had recruited Clinard’s brother while the head football coach at Duke. After some conversation, Clinard, a 28-year-old with zero experience, inquired about the job opening.

When he was eventually offered the position, which paid $25,000 per year with no benefits, Clinard jumped at the opportunity, saying, “I’ll take it!”

“My office was in a trailer, and I just went to work,” Clinard said. “And I didn’t really know what I was doing, to be honest.”

Eight years later, Clinard was hired by Auburn. He brought with him future PGA Tour pro Blayne Barber, who helped Clinard lay a strong foundation. He also led the revamp of the Tigers’ practice facility. On the golf course, Auburn has now reached 11 of 13 NCAA Championships under Clinard. The Tigers advanced to the national semifinals in 2018 at Karsten Creek, and in each of the past two seasons, they notched top-10s at the NCAA Championship, though fell just short of match play both times.

“I joked with our A.D.; we’ve now made nine ‘Sweet 16s’ the last 15 years,” Clinard said. “I said, ‘Hell, if I was Bruce Pearl, you’d build me a damn shrine.’”

Added Alexander: “No one works harder than Nick.”

But on the morning of Auburn’s national-championship bout with Florida State, Clinard redirected the praise. He’s long said, as a golf coach, “30% of coaching is golf; the rest is life.” His teams don’t chase expectations but rather standards. None of this is about him.

“I don’t need this win today to validate my career,” Clinard said as he sipped a coffee in the same room that would serve as Auburn’s after-party that night. “I’d love to win one for these players, for all the past players who made this program great, and obviously, would love to win one for the Auburn family.”

If the toilet paper streaming from the oaks at Toomer’s Corner back on the Auburn campus late Wednesday night was proof, the achievement was much appreciated.

And Butler’s guarantee fulfilled.

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auburnwire.usatoday.com

Auburn fans celebrate Auburn golf's first-ever national title

Taylor Jones

3–4 minutes

Auburn athletics claimed its 23rd program-wide national championship Wednesday as men’s golf earned its first national championship by taking down Florida State, 3-2, in the NCAA finals at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.

“I’ve got a great group of young men. We’ve got six of the best players in the country,” Auburn head coach Nick Clinard said after leading the program to its first national title. “We’ve got great leadership with Alex Vogelsong. They went out there today and got the job done.”

In the late hours of the day, Auburn’s JM Butler clinched the title by winning the 17th hole after Florida State’s Luke Clanton’s birdie shot just missed sinking into the hole.

“Glad we could get it done,” Butler said following the match. “I knew we had it in us, all we had to do was go out there and do it and we did. My trust and my confidence were key in me winning today, combined with all the hours of hard work.”

Auburn fans were understandably excited to watch the golf program win its first national championship, and shared their enjoyment on X (formerly Twitter). Here is a look at the best reactions to Auburn golf’s first national championship win in program history.

The graphic makes it real

The moment the title was won

Clinard grabs the trophy

This one was more enjoyable to watch

Roll the corner!

Flaunt it!

I absolutely am getting an Auburn Golf National Championship shirt I paid for a lifetime alum years ago get off my lawn War Eagle!

— Delvin (@dee_ray1977) May 30, 2024

Love from another Tiger

Good to see @AuburnMGolf winning their first Natty. That team was absolutely stacked this year and played incredible all year. My wife is very happy and I think my daughter is too as she is a big Aubie fan 😂 https://t.co/3gCwHU0ayd

— Smylie Kaufman (@SmylieKaufman10) May 30, 2024

This team is good, y'all.

Let's put this @AuburnMGolf season into perspective. They just won for the 10th time and it was for the NCAA title. They finished the season with a record of 182-9-1 overall. In 16 tournaments, only nine teams finished ahead of them all year long. That's insane.

— Jason Caldwell (@ITATJason) May 30, 2024

Blizzard warning for the Plains

That feeling when you just lost to Auburn

Way to barn, everyone

Auburn was the best team all year. Congrats to all who barn.

— Bunkie Perkins (@BunkiePerkins) May 30, 2024

Did Auburn invent golf? People are talking

It's just nice to win one

It's freezing in May

Jackson Koivun is that dude

Newly 19 yr old Jackson Koivun was a flag stick clank away from winning everything this year.

24’ Freshman of Year
24’ SEC Player of Year
24’ Ben Hogan Award Winner
24’ SEC Individual Champ
24’ Haskins Award (Golf’s Heisman)
24’ First Team All SEC
24’ D1 All American
24’…

— Jim (@Cakalacman) May 30, 2024

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theplainsman.com

Auburn men's golf team secures first national championship, caps historic season

4–5 minutes

For the first time in program history, the Auburn men’s golf team is national champions.

The No. 1 Tigers clinched their first national championship on Wednesday, defeating No. 6 Florida State 3–2 at the Omni La Costa Champions Course in California.

 

Throughout the season, Auburn head coach Nick Clinard emphasized that the team’s mission was not complete until they secured the championship. The Tigers’ determination paid off. 

“I’ve got a great group of young men. We’ve got six of the best players in the country,” Clinard said. “We’ve got great leadership with Alex Vogelsong. They went out there today and got the job done.”

With the Tigers and Seminoles tied at two matches apiece heading into the final matchup, Auburn took the title on the 17th hole in match play when senior J.M. Butler made a par putt to win his match 2 & 1, defeating FSU’s Luke Clanton — the No. 5 amateur in the world. 

 

 

“[I'm] glad we could get it done,” Butler said. “I knew we had it in us. All we had to do was go out there and do it, and we did. My trust and my confidence were key in me winning today, combined with all the hours of hard work.”

Auburn’s first point of match play against FSU came from true freshman Jackson Koivun. Koivun was tied with FSU’s Brett Roberts after eight holes, but he gained the lead by winning the ninth and 10th holes, extending his advantage by taking both the 12th and 13th holes. Facing a birdie attempt from Roberts, Koivun made a tough chip-in to win the hole and clinch the match, putting Auburn on the scoreboard.

“I was just happy to be part of it,” Koivun said. “I was just trying to make up and down and was lucky enough to hit the flag and go in. It’s been a whirlwind of emotions. There’s a lot of awards I’ve collected, but this one right here is definitely the biggest one.”

Brendan Valdes also secured a win for the Tigers, finishing his match 4 & 3. Valdes struggled through the front nine — eventually evening out the match score on the fourth hole — but he never trailed on the back nine, finishing with birdies on the 12th and 15th holes. 

“It means everything,” Valdes said. “To get it for guys like J.M. and [Vogelsong], it means the world to see the smile on their faces.”

Auburn’s season — the best in the program’s history — included winning the SEC championship, a second consecutive NCAA Regional title and Koivun receiving the Ben Hogan Award and the Fred Haskins Award, the highest individual honors in college golf.

With 10 tournament wins, including seven consecutive victories to end the season and a national championship, Auburn men’s golf team has solidified its place in the 2024 season, capping off a historic season. 

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Grace Heim | Assistant Sports Editor

Grace Heim is a senior from Enterprise, Alabama, majoring in Political Science. She started with The Plainsman in January 2023.

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