USF moved up one spot on the leaderboard in Tuesday’s final round and saw its streak of consecutive league tournament title victories end at four.
Freshman Albin Bergstrom tied for fifth place at 1-under to post his team-leading sixth top-10 finish of the season.
PALM HARBOR, Fla., APRIL 23, 2019 – Albin Bergstrom secured a top-five finish in his first-ever appearance at The American Men’s Golf Championship while USF moved up a spot to fourth in Tuesday’s final round.
USF ended the three-day event on a high note with a 3-over 287 in the final round, which marked its lowest team score at this year’s tournament. The Bulls’ impressive streak of consecutive conference tournament title victories ended at four, but another trip to NCAA Regionals is expected to be on the horizon. Memphis won the event with an even-par score at Innisbrook Golf & Spa Resort’s Copperhead Course (par 71, 7,125 yards).
Bergstrom registered his team-leading sixth top-10 finish by tying for fifth place in the 50-player field at 1-under (69-71-72). The freshman from Ljunghusen, Sweden carded USF’s low score in two of three rounds and led the Bulls with 11 birdies on top of producing one of the team’s two eagles.
Kyle Flexsenhar tied for 10th place at 3-over after shooting 72 in each of the tournament’s three rounds. The junior from Lake Mary, Fla., finished second on the team with 10 total birdies in his fourth top-10 showing of the season.
USF’s low score of the tournament belonged to Luke Gifford, who fired a bogey-free, 3-under 68 in the final round. Finishing strong helped the freshman from Boca Raton, Fla., climb 15 spots on the leaderboard to a tie for 16th place at 6-over.
USF Scores
| 4 | South Florida | 290 | 293 | 287 | 870 |
| T5 | Albin Bergstrom (1) | 69 | 71 | 72 | 212 |
| T10 | Kyle Flexsenhar (2) | 72 | 72 | 72 | 216 |
| T16 | Luke Gifford (4) | 75 | 76 | 68 | 219 |
| 31 | Ryoto Furuya (3) | 74 | 75 | 75 | 224 |
| 50 | Massimo Mbetse (6) | 77 | 77 |
Quotable
Head coach Steve Bradley on the conference tournament finish and what’s ahead for the Bulls:
“Overall, the finish is pretty disappointing, but at the end of the day the No. 1 goal that any team has is to qualify for regional play and obviously we’re going to do that. The conference championship is great, but I’d rather go to regionals and qualify for NCAAs than win a conference championship. Our streak is over and hopefully we start a new one next year. We need to regain our focus. Guys have finals this upcoming week, which is a big week for them. Then we’ll try to get after regionals and qualify for NCAAs, which we haven’t been to the last two years.”
Notables
- Prior to this season, USF had won the past four conference tournaments in wire-to-wire fashion.
- Only junior Kyle Flexsenhar returned to the lineup from last year’s conference championship team.
- Freshman Luke Gifford put together his first bogey-free round ever in competition while leading the Bulls with a 3-under 68 in the final round.
- Massimo Mbetse made his conference tournament debut Tuesday after fellow freshman Amadeo Figus played the first two rounds.
Up Next
The NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Selection Show is set for Wednesday, May 1 at 9 p.m. (TV: Golf Channel). USF has made six straight trips to NCAA Regionals.
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 made six straight trips to NCAA Regionals. The program is led by Steve Bradley, who earned American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors in each of the past four seasons. Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
