The Auburn men’s golf team has never had a golfer like Jackson Koivun.
Although he’s only a freshman and hasn’t even completed his inaugural season in college, Koivun is making his mark as one of the best Tigers in program history. He had one of the best regular seasons in team history, and he’s prepared to lead the top-ranked Tigers into the SEC Championship and NCAA postseason.
All he has to do is continue to play like he has in his first 10 events.
Look no further than the Auburn record books, which is going to need plenty of updating after this season.
Just in Auburn’s 10 regular-season events, Koivun has set the freshman records for top-10 finishes (9), rounds in the 60s (13) and sub-par rounds (21).
But forget just freshman records. Koivun is on pace to break the single-season scoring average mark (he’s at 69.47; the old mark is Brendan Valdes at 70.03 last year); Koivun has twice tied the 54-hole tournament scoring mark of 17 under and if he continues at his current pace, he could set the mark for single-season sub-par rounds (24), rounds in the 60s (16) and top-10 finishes (9).
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“He came out of high school as the best junior in the country, and he’s just very mature,” Auburn coach Nick Clinard said. “He’s got a calmness and maturity about him on and off the golf course.”
A lot of those attributes Clinard credits to Koivun are things he has worked on since arriving on campus.
Last summer, Koivun struggled during the Elite Amateur Series. His best showing was at the Western Amateur, where he had three rounds in the 60s but still missed the match-play cut.
Heading into the U.S. Amateur, he didn’t have many expectations, but whatever he did had, he blew them out of the water.
“You know, you get up there and you see all of these names,” Koivun said. “All these people that have done all these things. But I started making a run, and it opened my eyes that I belong here and I can do great things as an amateur.”
Jackson Koivun shakes hands with Blades Brown’s caddie Jack Bethmann after Koivun during the round of 32 of the 2023 U.S. Amateur at Cherry Hills. (Photo: Chris Keane/USGA)
Koivun earned the No. 32 seed for match play and won 1 up in the Round of 64. Then he took down top-seeded Blades Brown 4 and 3 in the Round of 32. Up next, he dispatched Matthew Sutherland in 19 holes to move on to the quarterfinals. Then, he took on Nick Dunlap and…
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