Two-time honoree Flexsenhar is joined by Albin Bergstrom, Luke Gifford and Massimo Mbetse on the Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar Team.
TAMPA, JUNE 18, 2020 – USF’s Albin Bergstrom, Kyle Flexsenhar, Luke Gifford and Massimo Mbetse were rewarded for their efforts on and off the course when they were recently named Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholars by the Golf Coaches Association of America.
USF men’s golf has had at least one of its student-athletes earn All-America Scholar honors every year since 2016. Flexsenhar is the program’s first two-time selection since Rigel Fernandes (2016-17).
“One of the things we always talk about is compete in everything you do, whether it’s on the golf course, in the classroom, or in the weight room. That’s an environment we’re trying to foster and we want the guys to understand and grab ahold of that,” head coach Steve Bradley said. “The awards for those four individuals show that they embrace it. We’re proud of the way they represented our program and the way they represented themselves in the classroom. It’s nice recognition for hard work all year long.”
To be eligible for a Srixon/Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar award, an individual must be a sophomore, junior or senior academically in Division I, II, III, and NAIA, or receiving their associate degree and in their last year of athletic eligibility in the NJCAA. Division I golfers must have a stroke-average under 76.0 and maintain a minimum cumulative career grade-point average of 3.2. Student-athletes also must have participated in 40 percent of their team’s competitive rounds during the shortened 2019-20 season.
Gifford was named to the Division I PING All-Southeast Region Team in April after the sophomore led the Bulls with a 71.04 season scoring average, 15 rounds of par or better and six top-10 finishes. The Boca Raton, Fla., native earned co-medalist honors at the Marquette Intercollegiate on Oct. 8, which marked the first of his four top-five finishes on the season. Gifford placed 13th or better in seven of eight events.
As a sophomore, Bergstrom ranked second on the Bulls’ roster in scoring average (71.58), rounds of par or better (12) and top-10 finishes (5) on the way to earning All-Southeast Region honors for the second straight season. The Ljunghusen, Sweden native tallied his second career victory at the Windon Memorial Classic on Sept. 17 and tied for the team lead with four top-five finishes. His runner-up performance at The Challenge at Concession helped USF post a wire-to-wire team win in the season finale on March 10.
Flexsenhar tied for third on the team with a 73.05 scoring average and collected four top-25 finishes in seven events. The senior from Lake Mary, Fla., tied for ninth at The Challenge at Concession, which marked his second top-10 outing of the season. Flexsenhar received his bachelor’s degree in management this spring.
Mbetse made steady improvement in his second collegiate season, posting a 74.29 scoring average and eight rounds of par or better through 24 total rounds. The sophomore from Bradenton, Fla./South Africa set a career best by tying for seventh place in the fall opener at the Carpet Capital Collegiate on Sept. 8 and finished the season with four top-25 showings.
The four All-America Scholars helped USF men’s golf set a program record with a 3.54 grade-point average in the spring 2020 semester, when the entire team was named to the USF Athletics Honor Roll. The program also received a Public Recognition Award from the NCAA for earning a perfect multi-year score of 1,000 in the most recent Academic Progress Rate (APR) compilation.
About USF Men’s Golf
USF men’s golf captured four consecutive American Athletic Conference Championship titles in wire-to-wire fashion prior to 2019 and has earned seven straight trips to NCAA Regionals. The program is led by Steve Bradley, who has been named American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times. Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
