Defending champion Albin Bergstrom fires an opening 69 to sit second one stroke off the lead
BROOKSVILLE, FLA., APRIL 22, 2022 – The USF men’s golf team didn’t equal its record-breaking opening round of last season, but the Bulls and junior Albin Bergstrom put themselves in position for a sixth team title and repeat medalist honors after a breezy Day 1 of the 2022 American Athletic Conference Golf Championship at Southern Hills Plantation in Brooksville, Fla.
Bergstrom (Falsterbo, Sweden), the defending AAC champion, shot an opening round 3-under par 69 to sit one stroke off the lead in second despite not having his top game on Friday. SMU’s Nathan Petronzio paced the field with an opening 68 as 12 players shot under par on a day that saw winds of 16-20 mph and sunny skies.
USF sophomore Run Youprayong (Bangkok, Thailand) also finished under par with a 1-under 71 on the par 72, 7,221-yard Southern Hills Plantation course after posting birdie on three of his final five holes.
The No. 1-seeded Bulls carded a 2-under par total of 286 to sit third, eight strokes behind No. 3-seed Houston (-10, 278) and four behind No. 2-seed SMU (-6, 282). All three leading teams played in trios together in Friday’s opening round.
Bergstrom, who shot a final round 66 in 2021 to come from three shots off the lead and earn the Bull’s fourth AAC individual title, posted five birdies and two bogeys on the day as he took advantage of three of the four par-5’s on the course. He increased his program-record to 28 rounds of par or better on the year.
Junior Luke Gifford (Boca Raton) posted three birdies on the day, but finished at even-par 72 after a bogey on the difficult 18th hole. Sophomore Sam Nicholson (Atlantic Beach) posted two birdies on the day but had a double bogey on the ninth and bogey on the 18th to finish two-over par 74. Junior Ian Peng (Chang Hua, Taiwan) posted a 7-over 79.
The Bulls claimed their fifth conference championship in the last six seasons in 2021, posting a five-stroke win over SMU after a tournament record performance of 18-under par in the Friday opening round
Competition continues Saturday and Sunday at Southern Hills Plantation.
QUOTABLE
“There was some good there in the middle and towards the end of the round. We got off to a slow start. I don’t know if it was nerves or what, but we just didn’t get off to a very good start. As we made the turn, we made a couple of birdies on nine and played the 10th hole pretty solid, which is one of the harder holes out here, and then made a couple of birdies on 12, the par-5, and then on 16, the par-5. Eighteen got us a little, it would have been nice to make a couple of pars on the final hole. But, we’re eight shots back with 36 holes to play, counting four scores that’s two shots a guy over the next two days so it’s certainly not that big of a deal.”
NOTABLE
• Junior Albin Bergstrom currently has the Bulls’ best-ever career scoring average (70.26), more than a stroke better than Chase Koepka’s previous mark of 71.53.
• Bergstrom’s 69.23 season scoring average is on pace to break his own USF record of 70.00 set in 2018-19.
• Bergstrom reached as high as the No. 4 ranking in early March and currently sits at No. 21. Chase Koepka owns the USF record of a No. 11 final season national scorer rating.
• Bergstrom is the highest ranked player the American Athletic Conference and third in the state of Florida.
• Bergstrom has 28 par or better rounds on the year and 84 on his career, setting a USF career mark and season record.
• Bergstrom also owns USF career records for scoring average (70.45), tournament low round (63, 2019-20), tournament low round to par (-9, 2019-20), tournament low 36-hole total (133, -11, 2018-19), and is second in wins (3) and low 54-hole total (201, -11, 2018-19).
About USF Men’s Golf
USF men’s golf program has captured 17 conference titles, including in 2021, and have seen players earn 19 All-America honors. The Bulls have won five of the last six American Athletic Conference Tournament championships in wire-to-wire fashion, winning four-consecutive from 2015-18. The Bulls have had four individual conference champions, including Albin Bergstrom in 2021, and gone on to earn eight straight NCAA Regionals appearances, including a 6th place finish in NCAA Championship match-play in 2015. USF is led by Steve Bradley, who has been named American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year five times since taking over the program in 2014. The Bulls have posted 20 tournament wins under Bradley entering the 2021-22 season, by far the most under any coach in program history.
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– #GoBulls –
