The Auburn men’s golf team has won three tournaments so far this year and has finished in the top three in nine consecutive events.

And still, head coach Nick Clinard doesn’t think his Tigers have played their best golf. Not as a team. Not yet.

“I don’t think we’ve played as well as we can. It’s a matter of getting all five guys to play good at the same time, and we really haven’t done that all year, to be honest. We’ve kind of ham-and-egged it pretty well,” said the second-year head coach, who’s trying to help his team win the program’s fifth SEC championship.

That’s the goal, as the Tigers begin the three-day conference tournament this morning at the Sea Island Golf Club’s Seaside Course in St. Simon’s Island, Ga.

Auburn’s going to have its work cut out for it, though. While the Tigers are ranked No. 8 in the nation, they’re competing against five other conference teams that are ranked in the top 15 in the country this weekend, including No. 3 Alabama and No. 5 Florida.

“It’s going to be a dogfight,” Clinard said.

Auburn’s got one of the top dogs in not only the SEC but the country playing in its top spot.

Sophomore Blayne Barber is currently ranked the nation’s 14 th best amateur golfer, as noted by the Scratch Players world amateur rankings.

Barber, who transferred from UCF with Clinard in 2009, won the 2010 Bridgestone Intercollegiate event, while finishing in the top five in six out of his last nine tournaments this season. Just Wednesday, Barber was named a finalist for the Ben Hogan Award, given to the nation’s top college golfer.

The Tigers go how he goes.

“He’s had a great college career so far and has had a great year this year,” Clinard said. “He’s a model of consistency He’s a good putter inside 10 feet. He’s a good ball-striker. He kind of wears you out from tee to green. And he’s a very mature young man when it comes to playing the game.”

For Barber, who leads Auburn with a 70.81 scoring average, the SEC Championship tournament is where he really wants to show his stuff.

“That’s why you work hard and put in all the time practicing,” the sophomore said. “I certainly want (to win), but I’m just trying to get lost in the process and do the right things and the score will come to me, I guess.”

The Tigers are taking the same approach as a team, which has already produced the program’s first three-win season in 14 years.

“We just got to be more consistent,” Clinard said. “We got to make more putts. We got to think a little bit better. We’ve put ourselves in position every week, every tournament. We’ve won three times this year, and as a coach, I demand a lot. I want to win every time we go play. And I understand that’s probably not realistic in the sport that we play, but if we can think well and putt well and have a good ball-striking week — we’ve got the talent — we’ll see where the chips fall.”

Barber agrees, knowing that individual focus is the key to another title.

“We’ve obviously had great finishes, and we’ve played well, and the difference between winning and losing is a few putts here and some emotional things here and there,” Barber said. “Sometimes it’s easy to focus on the whole team, but if each guy focuses on playing well himself, when you have four or five individuals who play well, then you’re going to play well as a team.

“I feel like we all four haven’t played well at the same time, and if that happens, I think we can compete with anyone.”

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