USF takes on a field in Phoenix that includes four of the top five ranked teams in the nation
TAMPA, FLA., APRIL 14, 2022 – The USF men’s golf team will close out its regular season Friday and Saturday against a strong field at the Thunderbird Collegiate in Phoenix, Ariz. that includes four of the top five ranked teams in the nation.
The Bulls, who enter this weekend ranked No. 37 by Golfstat, finished tied for eighth in a strong 15-team field at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational in Palm City, Fla. in their last outing. They will join a field mostly of western teams on the Par 71, 7,317-yard Papago Golf Course. Among those competing will be No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Arizona State and No. 5 North Carolina as well as the No. 2, 5, 11, 13, 14 and 21-ranked players nationally
The Bulls were led at the Valspar by sophomore Run Youprayong (Bangkok, Thailand) whose second round 67 helped propel him to a 3-under total of 210 and a tie for 17th. He recorded three eagles in the tournament.
USF junior Albin Bergstrom (Falsterbo, Sweden) has been ranked as high as No. 4 in the nation and enters this weekend ranked No. 21 after finishing T22 at Valspar, breaking a string of five straight top 10 finishes. He has posted seven top 10 finishes in nine tournaments on the year and tied his own USF season record with 24 rounds of par or better. Last week he fired his 80th career round of par or better to pass Chase Koepka for the USF career mark. His current 69.26 scoring average on the year is on pace to set another USF record as the defending American Athletic Conference Champion builds toward the conference tournament hosted at Southern Hills Plantation in Brooksville, Fla. April 22-24.
Bergstrom and Youprayong will be joined by juniors Luke Gifford (Boca Raton) and Ian Peng (Chang Hua, Taiwan) and sophomore Sam Nicholson (Atlantic Beach) in teeing it up for the Bulls in Phoenix.
AMERICAN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS RETURN TO TAMPA BAY
USF will once again host the American Athletic Conference Championship at Southern Hills Plantation April 22-24. The Bulls and Bergstrom are the defending team and individual champions and USF has won five AAC Championships since joining the conference in 2013.
NOTABLE
• Junior Albin Bergstrom currently has the Bulls’ best-ever career scoring average (70.29), more than a stroke better than Koepka’s previous mark of 71.53.
• Bergstrom’s 69.26 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 24 par or better rounds on the year and 80 on his career, setting a USF career mark and tying his own 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 –
