Defending AAC Champions take on 14-team field in Gainesville
TOURNAMENT: Gators Invitational Invitational
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 12- Sunday, Feb. 13
COURSE: Mark Bostick Golf Course (Par 70/6,701 yards)
LIVE STATS: https://bit.ly/3otz3H6
TWITTER UPDATES: @USFMGolf
TAMPA, FEB. 10, 2022 – The No. 25-ranked USF men’s golf team will get its spring team competition season underway Saturday in Gainesville as the Bulls take on a 14-team field at the 45th VyStar Gators Invitational on the Par 70, 6,701-yard Mark Bostick Golf Course.
The field will feature four ranked teams, including No. 3 Oklahoma State, No. 23 LSU, No. 24 Liberty and the No. 25 Bulls. Host Florida has won the event 27 times while USF has won it twice previously in 2015 and 2016.
The other teams competing in the event are Florida, FAU, FGCU, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville, Liberty, LSU, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Penn State, UCF, UNCW, and West Virginia.
Florida has won the last two events, including last year with a score of 811.
USF will open the year with a line-up of junior Albin Bergstrom, junior Luke Gifford, sophomore Run Youprayong, freshman Shubham Jaglan and junior Ian Peng playing one through five.
THE BULLS
USF will be led by defending American Athletic Conference Champion Albin Bergstrom (Falsterbo, Sweden) who was joined by junior Luke Gifford (Boca Raton) in earning AAC All-Conference honors last spring. Bergstrom became the fourth Bull to win an AAC title and currently owns seven USF season or career records and is on pace to set at least two more. Both he and Gifford have been recognized as PING All-Southeast Region selections.
USF won its fifth American Athletic Conference championship (17th conference title overall) last spring and saw head coach Steve Bradley earn his fifth AAC Coach of the Year honor. Bradley’s 20 career wins at USF are by far the most in program history and the Bulls have won at least one tournament in each of his previous seven seasons leading the program.
The Bulls are in the midst of a string of eight-straight NCAA Regional appearances. USF will again host the AAC Championship at Southern Hills Plantation, April 22-24.
LAST TIME OUT
USF freshman Chase Gullikson (Orlando) led the charge winning his first collegiate tournament title earlier this week as Bulls took the top four individual placings at the Veterans Intercollegiate held on the Crooked Cat course at Orange County National in Winter Garden, Fla.
Gullikson fired rounds of 67, 69, 69 to post an 11-under par 205 and edge fellow USF freshman Shubham Jaglan (New Delhi, India) by two strokes to take the title among a 55-player field on the par 72, 7,388-yard course.
Jaglan shot rounds of 69, 69, 69 for a 9-under par 207 and second place. Also placing in the top four for the Bulls were sophomore Sam Nicholson (Atlantic Beach), who posted rounds of 70, 68, 72 for a 6-under par 210 good for third place, and sophomore Luc Breuer (Germany), who finished fourth with rounds of 67, 74, 70 and a 5-under par total of 211.
NOTABLE
• JR Albin Bergstrom needs one win to tie Chase Koepka for the USF wins record with 4.
• Bergstrom currently has the Bulls’ best-ever career scoring average (70.45), more than a stroke better than Koepka’s previous mark of 71.53.
• JR Luke Gifford is currently third in career scoring average, just behind Koepka, with a 71.78 average.
• Bergstrom owns the best two season scoring marks in program history: 70.00 (2018-19) & 70.52 (2020-21). Gifford owns the fourth-best mark at 71.04 (2019-20).
• Bergstrom owns USF SEASON RECORDS for par or better rounds (24, 2018-19), par 4 scoring (3.98, 2020-21), par 5 scoring (4.57, 2018-19) and is second in national scorer rating (No. 13, 2018-19), Par 3 scoring (3.02, 2018-19) and finish percentage (85.4%, 2018-19).
• Bergstrom 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), low 54-hole total (201, -11, 2018-19) and third in par or better rounds (64).
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.
Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
- #GoBulls –
