Golf News: 6-9-2026
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Dudley Dent
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Auburn Golf News: 6-9-2026
Faith in Pope at the anchor spot pays off for Auburn men's golf:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/cayden-pope-auburn-tigers-mens-golf-ncaa-championship-287589420/
'Celebration, not trepidation': A teary eyed day that kept Chris Williams at Auburn, not his alma mater:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/chris-williams-auburn-tigers-mens-golf-national-championship-287590438/
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Faith in Pope at the anchor spot pays off for Auburn men's golf
By Christian Clemente
Sending out Cayden Pope in the leadoff match at the SEC Championship, Auburn's junior was solid with a big win over South Carolina, but dropped his afternoon match to Ole Miss. Head coach Nick Clinard and his staff opted to mix up the order for the NCAA Championship and felt like Pope was best suited to slot in at the anchor spot.
Two years ago when Auburn won it all for the first time, it was J.M. Butler who was the steady anchor in the fifth spot and someone his teammates could count on. This year with the 2026 title, there was faith in Pope to always be ready to close things out if needed.
"We tried to mix it up a little at NCAA's," Clinard said. "We just believe in him. He's probably the most mature kid that we have on the roster and we just trusted him. We knew when it came down to it he's a great driver of the golf ball and a great ball-striker. We felt like over time if he had to wear somebody out in the match, he could do it in that anchor match."
For Pope, it meant a lot to have that trust from his teammates and coaches. During the four days of stroke play, he opened with a +5 (77) and then shot even, -1 (71) and +1 (73). A rough first day, followed up by some solid rounds but still not quite up to his high standards.
He responded by putting together very, very solid golf for the Tigers when it mattered the most in match play. Pope was tied in his match against Stanford when that wrapped up, then closed out his match against Oklahoma State quickly 3&2 to help the Tigers beat the defending national champs 5-0.
"I feel like when the moment gets big that's sometimes when I can produce some of my best golf," Pope said. "If it came down to me, I feel good about it. I just feel like (in match play) you can be a little more aggressive and you're playing one guy. You just have to beat one guy, you don't necessarily have to win the tournament, you just have to beat one guy."
In the title match against UCLA, Pope was cruising. He never trailed and had ballooned his lead all the way to 4UP with four holes to play, putting the match on ice, when freshman Logan Reilly ended up winning his match on the 18th hole to get the third point to clinch it.
Pope ran from the 15th hole all the way to the 18th green to celebrate with his teammates, something Clinard joked about during his celebration speech at Toomer's Corner saying he'd never seen him run that fast.
If it was up to Pope, though, everyone would've been running back to him.
"No you're darn right I wanted that point for myself, you kidding me?" Pope joked about Reilly clinching the match instead of him. "But hey we won, it doesn't matter who got it."
****************************
'Celebration, not trepidation': A teary eyed day that kept Chris Williams at Auburn, not his alma mater
By Christian Clemente
Amidst trying to win the national championship as the associate head coach for Auburn men's golf last week, home came calling for Chris Williams. Once the top amateur during his playing days for the Washington Huskies and an Idaho native from up in the northwest, his alma mater was looking for a new head coach and turned to one of the program's top former players.
With Auburn since 2021, it put Williams into decision mode with his family and with Auburn all while out in Carlsbad, California, for the NCAA Championship.
"I had heard and I still follow Washington golf, it's home to me and it's a place that will always be dear to my heart. It's where my wife now 15 years ago, her family lives there and my family lives there," Williams said. "Obviously the program was really successful for a long time. I kind of knew there was a chance the job might come open, so kind of had that in the back of my mind. But until it is open and you talk to the administration and talk to the AD and then get the job offer, I was kind of just dumbfounded. I didn't know what to do, I felt stuck. I didn't want to leave Auburn, but at the same time there was so many positives to Washington and all the things I said."
Williams was a four-time All-American, the individual winner of six tournaments, a Ben Hogan Award for national player of the year winner and was also awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews as the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in 2012. Williams spent 46 weeks ranked as the top amateur in the world after earning the distinction prior to his senior year at Washington. He played in the 2011 and 2012 Palmer Cup, 2011 Walker Cup, was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and won the Mickelson Award for the nation's top freshman golfer during his tenure with Washington.
But when it came down to trying to make a decision, he couldn't rely on his accolades as a player and his incredible start to his young coaching career in the college golf world.
He turned to his former coach for advice that ended up swinging his decision.
"Finally I said, 'I've got to make a decision,'" Williams said. "My coach, (Matt) Thurmond who was at Washington for 15 years said, 'This should be a moment of celebration, not trepidation. That right opportunity will come around eventually.' He said if you love Auburn, there's no reason to leave."
Part of the two-time national championship-winning program now, Williams had plenty of love for Auburn and that made his decision so tough. And Auburn made sure to make it even tougher.
"Ultimately I would say Auburn made it really hard for me to want to leave, they stepped up with a nice new contract and really felt the Auburn love," Williams said. "They made me feel welcomed and loved and they really wanted me to stay. That really helped things. Where I think if it would've been the other way and they would've said, 'Hey you might want to take that opportunity' I probably would've gone. But Auburn really wanted me to stay and wanted us to stay.
"Then ultimately my wife just said, 'You know what, we don't need to move back. We can spend time there and it can be home, but we don't need to be back. Like we love it here so much. We love Auburn, we love the Plains, we love the people here.' It was a really, really hard decision. She's crying and she's six months pregnant and hormonal, and she's bawling her eyes out. I'm starting to cry. Nick's starting to cry and tear up. And in the meantime this is the final round of stroke play and I'm trying to figure out what am I going to do?... Like I said, I love the guys, I love the team, I love Auburn and it was an easy decision."
Head coach Nick Clinard is certainly glad that ended up being the choice, keeping his staff continuity with Williams and assistant coach David Johnson as his two assistants.
"It's huge," Clinard said. "It gives us stability that he chose to turn down his alma mater in Washington. I wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen. Auburn is a special place and him and his wife love it. We're very, very lucky that he chose to stay at Auburn."
Faith in Pope at the anchor spot pays off for Auburn men's golf:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/cayden-pope-auburn-tigers-mens-golf-ncaa-championship-287589420/
'Celebration, not trepidation': A teary eyed day that kept Chris Williams at Auburn, not his alma mater:
https://247sports.com/college/auburn/article/chris-williams-auburn-tigers-mens-golf-national-championship-287590438/
****************************
Faith in Pope at the anchor spot pays off for Auburn men's golf
By Christian Clemente
Sending out Cayden Pope in the leadoff match at the SEC Championship, Auburn's junior was solid with a big win over South Carolina, but dropped his afternoon match to Ole Miss. Head coach Nick Clinard and his staff opted to mix up the order for the NCAA Championship and felt like Pope was best suited to slot in at the anchor spot.
Two years ago when Auburn won it all for the first time, it was J.M. Butler who was the steady anchor in the fifth spot and someone his teammates could count on. This year with the 2026 title, there was faith in Pope to always be ready to close things out if needed.
"We tried to mix it up a little at NCAA's," Clinard said. "We just believe in him. He's probably the most mature kid that we have on the roster and we just trusted him. We knew when it came down to it he's a great driver of the golf ball and a great ball-striker. We felt like over time if he had to wear somebody out in the match, he could do it in that anchor match."
For Pope, it meant a lot to have that trust from his teammates and coaches. During the four days of stroke play, he opened with a +5 (77) and then shot even, -1 (71) and +1 (73). A rough first day, followed up by some solid rounds but still not quite up to his high standards.
He responded by putting together very, very solid golf for the Tigers when it mattered the most in match play. Pope was tied in his match against Stanford when that wrapped up, then closed out his match against Oklahoma State quickly 3&2 to help the Tigers beat the defending national champs 5-0.
"I feel like when the moment gets big that's sometimes when I can produce some of my best golf," Pope said. "If it came down to me, I feel good about it. I just feel like (in match play) you can be a little more aggressive and you're playing one guy. You just have to beat one guy, you don't necessarily have to win the tournament, you just have to beat one guy."
In the title match against UCLA, Pope was cruising. He never trailed and had ballooned his lead all the way to 4UP with four holes to play, putting the match on ice, when freshman Logan Reilly ended up winning his match on the 18th hole to get the third point to clinch it.
Pope ran from the 15th hole all the way to the 18th green to celebrate with his teammates, something Clinard joked about during his celebration speech at Toomer's Corner saying he'd never seen him run that fast.
If it was up to Pope, though, everyone would've been running back to him.
"No you're darn right I wanted that point for myself, you kidding me?" Pope joked about Reilly clinching the match instead of him. "But hey we won, it doesn't matter who got it."
****************************
'Celebration, not trepidation': A teary eyed day that kept Chris Williams at Auburn, not his alma mater
By Christian Clemente
Amidst trying to win the national championship as the associate head coach for Auburn men's golf last week, home came calling for Chris Williams. Once the top amateur during his playing days for the Washington Huskies and an Idaho native from up in the northwest, his alma mater was looking for a new head coach and turned to one of the program's top former players.
With Auburn since 2021, it put Williams into decision mode with his family and with Auburn all while out in Carlsbad, California, for the NCAA Championship.
"I had heard and I still follow Washington golf, it's home to me and it's a place that will always be dear to my heart. It's where my wife now 15 years ago, her family lives there and my family lives there," Williams said. "Obviously the program was really successful for a long time. I kind of knew there was a chance the job might come open, so kind of had that in the back of my mind. But until it is open and you talk to the administration and talk to the AD and then get the job offer, I was kind of just dumbfounded. I didn't know what to do, I felt stuck. I didn't want to leave Auburn, but at the same time there was so many positives to Washington and all the things I said."
Williams was a four-time All-American, the individual winner of six tournaments, a Ben Hogan Award for national player of the year winner and was also awarded the Mark H. McCormack Medal by The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews as the leading player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking in 2012. Williams spent 46 weeks ranked as the top amateur in the world after earning the distinction prior to his senior year at Washington. He played in the 2011 and 2012 Palmer Cup, 2011 Walker Cup, was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year and won the Mickelson Award for the nation's top freshman golfer during his tenure with Washington.
But when it came down to trying to make a decision, he couldn't rely on his accolades as a player and his incredible start to his young coaching career in the college golf world.
He turned to his former coach for advice that ended up swinging his decision.
"Finally I said, 'I've got to make a decision,'" Williams said. "My coach, (Matt) Thurmond who was at Washington for 15 years said, 'This should be a moment of celebration, not trepidation. That right opportunity will come around eventually.' He said if you love Auburn, there's no reason to leave."
Part of the two-time national championship-winning program now, Williams had plenty of love for Auburn and that made his decision so tough. And Auburn made sure to make it even tougher.
"Ultimately I would say Auburn made it really hard for me to want to leave, they stepped up with a nice new contract and really felt the Auburn love," Williams said. "They made me feel welcomed and loved and they really wanted me to stay. That really helped things. Where I think if it would've been the other way and they would've said, 'Hey you might want to take that opportunity' I probably would've gone. But Auburn really wanted me to stay and wanted us to stay.
"Then ultimately my wife just said, 'You know what, we don't need to move back. We can spend time there and it can be home, but we don't need to be back. Like we love it here so much. We love Auburn, we love the Plains, we love the people here.' It was a really, really hard decision. She's crying and she's six months pregnant and hormonal, and she's bawling her eyes out. I'm starting to cry. Nick's starting to cry and tear up. And in the meantime this is the final round of stroke play and I'm trying to figure out what am I going to do?... Like I said, I love the guys, I love the team, I love Auburn and it was an easy decision."
Head coach Nick Clinard is certainly glad that ended up being the choice, keeping his staff continuity with Williams and assistant coach David Johnson as his two assistants.
"It's huge," Clinard said. "It gives us stability that he chose to turn down his alma mater in Washington. I wasn't exactly sure what was going to happen. Auburn is a special place and him and his wife love it. We're very, very lucky that he chose to stay at Auburn."
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