Tee it high and let it fly, but definitely don’t post the score. That’s the advice seemingly floating around the SEC this summer, at least if you ask South Carolina coach Shane Beamer. He was asked Monday at his annual “Birdies with Beamer” event to name his best round of the summer. He laughed, grinned — and politely passed. Why?
“I’ll get in trouble,” Beamer said. “There’s another coach that’s gotten in trouble in this league. I saw Kirby (Smart) on vacation and he asked if I was playing golf. I said, ‘Yeah.’ He’s like, ‘Whatever you do, don’t post your score, man.’ But I’m not going to get into specifics on that. I hit it pretty good this summer. But that’s the problem with my golf game is I played Friday, and I put the clubs up and I won’t touch them again until late January, early February. But I hit it OK.”
The joke had a clear target. Beamer was alluding to Auburn coach Hugh Freeze, who caught some offseason flak for his frequent golf outings while the Tigers’ recruiting efforts drew criticism. In June, AL.com reported Freeze (5.9 handicap) had logged nearly a dozen rounds in the USGA’s GHIN database since the start of the month — more than four other SEC coaches with public handicap records.
Beamer (11.0 handicap) wasn’t exactly hiding from the course himself. But he only had three rounds logged in June, per the same report.
Meanwhile, Auburn remains well off pace in the 2026 cycle, sitting at No. 70 nationally in the 247Sports Composite team rankings and second to last in the SEC.
Freeze hasn’t apologized for his time on the course, nor does he feel he needs to. He’s been open about enjoying the game and has had the full backing of Auburn athletic director John Cohen throughout the scrutiny.
Auburn AD John Cohen defends Hugh Freeze amid recent recruiting struggles, time on golf course
Will Backus
“I really haven’t had to defend it,” Freeze said at SEC Media Days earlier this month. “You know, it’s something I enjoy doing, but I assure you it does not take away from my time working to take Auburn back to the top of the college football world.”
After securing top-10 recruiting classes in each of the last two cycles, Freeze and the Tigers have a lot of work to do to maintain that momentum. On the field, Auburn isn’t heading in the right direction either, posting four consecutive losing seasons and an 11–14 record through Freeze’s first two years as coach.
Freeze, who disclosed in February that he’s battling early-stage prostate cancer, ranked No. 47 among Power Four coaches on CBS Sports’ coach rankings entering the 2025 season.
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