The Bulls were led by Sam Nicholson who finished tied for eighth place at -3 (210).
TAMPA, FLA., March 26, 2024 – The University of South Florida men’s golf team finished in 13th place at the Valspar Collegiate on Tuesday. Senior Sam Nicholson paced the Bulls, posting his third Top 10 finish of the season and sixth as a Bull. Junior Shubham Jaglan provided a highlight for the Bulls as he opened his final round with a hole-in-one on the 194-yard par 3 12th hole.
The Bulls have finished in the Top 4 in six of the nine tournaments this season, including two wins in the Fall and a second and third-place finish in the first two tournaments of the Spring.
At the Valspar Collegiate, a 54-hole event in Palm City, Fla., the No. 42-ranked Bulls recorded a final score of 863 (+11) to finish 13th among a field in which 14 of the 16 teams were ranked in the Top 80 in the country.
The Bulls improved each round. After opening with a 292 (+8) in the first round, the Bulls bettered their score by five shots shooting a 287 (+3) in round two and closing with a final round 284 (E).
Senior Sam Nicholson (Atlantic Beach, Fla.), who notched a win and his fifth Top 10 finish as a Bull in the Fall, shot par or better in all three rounds. Nicholson opened with a 69 (-2), shot an even par 71 in the second round and closed with a 70 (-1) to record his third Top 10 finish of the season, finishing with a score of 210 (-3). He tied for the field lead in par three scoring a 2.93. (-1).
Jake Peacock (Milton, Ga.), a junior and the AAC Men’s Golfer of the Week following his win at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate, posted the Bulls’ low round of the tournament with a 68 (-3) in the second round. Peacock opened with a 73 (+2) and closed with a 72 (+1) to finish tied for 23rd at 213 (E).
Redshirt junior Cooper Smith (Tampa, Fla.) contributed three scoring rounds and finished tied for 57th. Smith shot rounds of 76 (+5), improved to a 72 (+1) in the second round and finished with a 72 (+1).
Graduate student Brock Healy (Norcross, Ga.), who captured his first win as Bull in the Fall, opened with a 74 (+3), followed by 76 (+5) and closed with a 72 (+1) to finish tied for 68th.
Junior Shubham Jaglan (Jr., Delhi, India) opened his final round with a hole-in-one on the 194-yard par 3 12th hole. Jaglan added a birdie and an eagle in his first four holes. He shot a 70 (-1) in the final round. He opened with a 77 (+6) and a 78 (+7) in the first two rounds and finished tied for 76th at 225 (+12).
Bulls Team Scores
Place RD1 RD2 RD3 TOTAL
T8 Sam Nicholson (Sr., Atlantic Beach, Fla.) 69 71 70 -3 (210)
T23 Jake Peacock (Jr., Milton, Ga.) 73 68 72 E (213)
T57 Cooper Smith (Redshirt Jr., Tampa, Fla.) 76 72 72 +7 (220)
T68 Brock Healy (Gr., Norcross, Ga.) 74 76 72 +9 (222)
T76 Shubham Jaglan (Jr., Delhi, India) 77 78 70 +12 (225)
Tournament Team Scores
Place RD1 RD2 RD3 TOTAL
1 Florida State 280 278 275 -19 (833)
2 Vanderbilt 279 286 272 -15 (837)
3 Arizona State 280 285 277 -10 (842)
4 Arkansas 282 284 277 -9 (843)
5 Oklahoma 281 286 285 E (852)
6 Duke 299 281 273 +1 (853)
7 Texas A&M 290 283 282 +3 (855)
8 North Carolina 280 289 287 +4 (856)
9 Wake Forest 282 282 294 +6 (858)
T10 Texas 288 293 278 +7 (859)
T10 Alabama 293 285 281 +7 (859)
12 Texas Tech 289 290 283 +10 (862)
13 South Florida 292 287 284 +11 (863)
14 Houston 299 291 282 +20 (872)
15 Ohio State 293 287 299 +27 (879)
16 Lamar University 290 307 297 +42 (894)
Up Next
The Bulls will tee it up next at the Augusta Haskins Invitational April 6-7 at Forest Hills CC in Augusta, Ga.
About USF Men’s Golf
The USF men’s golf program has captured 17 conference titles and has seen players earn 19 All-America honors. The Bulls have won five 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 nine straight NCAA Regional 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 23 tournament wins under Bradley including two in the 2023-24 season, by far the most under any coach in program history.
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– #GoBulls –
