Shining in the final round, the Bulls move up to a tie for third in the 15-team field at the Florida Gators Invitational on Sunday.
GAINESVILLE, Fla., FEB. 16, 2020 – Strong play in the final round boosted USF men’s golf to a tie for third place at the Florida Gators Invitational on Sunday.
Poised for a solid finish in their spring opener, head coach Steve Bradley’s Bulls moved up two spots on the final day with an even-par 280 team score. USF is currently on a run of five consecutive top-five team performances, dating back to the Windon Memorial Classic on Sept. 17.
Host Florida (-12) won the event and the Bulls finished six shots behind second-place and 19th-ranked Vanderbilt (+6). USF has posted five top-five finishes at the Florida Gators Invitational in the past six seasons.
Luke Gifford secured his team-leading fourth top-10 finish of the season by tying for 10th place at 1-over. The sophomore from Boca Raton, Fla., led the lineup during Saturday’s 36-hole action with a 2-under score (68-70) and has placed inside the top 10 in four straight events.
Freshman Runchanapong Youprayong tied for 18th place at 3-over in the second top-25 finish of his promising USF career. The Bangkok, Thailand native shot par or better on 17 holes during his top round of the tournament, a 1-under 69 on Sunday.
Albin Bergstrom led the Bulls’ final-round charge, shooting par or better on 17 holes and carding a 2-under 68. The sophomore from Ljunghusen, Sweden tied for 24th place at 5-over in his fifth top-25 finish of the season.
USF Scores
| T3 | South Florida | 286 | 286 | 280 | 852 |
| T10 | Luke Gifford (1) | 68 | 70 | 73 | 211 |
| T18 | Run Youprayong (3) | 70 | 74 | 69 | 213 |
| T24 | Albin Bergstrom (2) | 75 | 72 | 68 | 215 |
| T37 | Kyle Flexsenhar (5) | 76 | 71 | 70 | 217 |
| T48 | Massimo Mbetse (4) | 73 | 73 | 74 | 220 |
Quotable
Assistant coach Brad Caldwell on the Bulls’ impressive final round and finish:
“There’s nothing but positives going after this week. We were in a situation halfway through our back nine where the leaderboard was bunched. We could have finished from where we were in third, all the way to almost eighth place. It was going to come down to how we played those last few holes. We buckled down and made some things happen. It was awesome to see our guys do that.”
Caldwell on Luke Gifford, Runchanapong Youprayong and Albin Bergstrom leading the lineup at the event:
“Luke was really solid for us the first day in both rounds. He didn’t quite have his best stuff today but still played well. It was good to see Albin bounce back from a tough opening round. He played almost bogey-free, perfect golf today. That golf course really suits Run. If you hit it straight, you can play out there and he’s straight driving the ball. It was a good start to the spring for them.”
Notables
- USF has registered top-five finishes in five of six tournaments this season. The Bulls are on a run of five straight top-five performances, dating back to the Windon Memorial Classic on Sept. 17.
- USF has posted five top-five finishes at the Florida Gators Invitational in the past six seasons. The Bulls captured titles at the event in 2015 and 2016.
- Luke Gifford (T10, +1) ranked second in the 84-player field with 41 pars. The sophomore shot par or better on 47 holes and tied for second in the field with a par-4 scoring average of 3.93 (-2).
- USF shined on par-5 holes with a team scoring average of 4.96 (-2).
Up Next
USF is back in action March 2-3 at the Fort Lauderdale Intercollegiate. The Bulls won the event in wire-to-wire fashion last spring.
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 earned seven straight trips to NCAA Regionals. The program is led by Steve Bradley, who has been named American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year four times. Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.
