Sophomore Luke Gifford becomes the Bulls’ second straight co-medalist by recording consecutive bogey-free rounds in his first collegiate victory.
Fourth-place USF earns its second straight top-five finish after freshman Runchanapong Youprayong makes a hole-in-one in the final round.
TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
HARTFORD, Wisc., OCT. 8, 2019 – Luke Gifford recorded his second straight bogey-free round to earn co-medalist honors and lead USF to a fourth-place finish at the Marquette Intercollegiate on Tuesday.
Gifford finished the three-day tournament with a 7-under 209 (72-68-69) and tied for first in the 72-player field with Marquette’s Hunter Eichhorn. The talented sophomore from Boca Raton, Fla., shot par or better on 50 holes at Erin Hills Golf Course (par 72, 7,515 yards) in his first collegiate win.
USF has had a player earn co-medalist honors in consecutive events after Albin Bergstrom tied for the lead at the Windon Memorial Classic on Sept. 17. Bergstrom nearly added a third career title victory to his credit Tuesday, finishing third at the site of the 2017 U.S. Open Championship at 6-under (75-68-67–210).
Runchanapong Youprayong (Bangkok, Thailand) added to USF’s memorable outing by making a hole-in-one on the par-3, 200-yard 16th hole Tuesday. The freshman’s first collegiate ace helped him card a final-round 70 and tie for 19th place at 2-over.
USF completed its third fall tournament in impressive fashion with a 7-under 281 and registered its second straight top-five finish. At even par overall, the fourth-place Bulls finished nine shots away from event winner Purdue.
USF Scores
| 4 | South Florida | 296 | 287 | 281 | 864 |
| T1 | Luke Gifford (2) | 72 | 68 | 69 | 209 |
| 3 | Albin Bergstrom (1) | 75 | 68 | 67 | 210 |
| T19 | Run Youprayong (3) | 73 | 75 | 70 | 218 |
| T53 | Massimo Mbetse (5) | 76 | 77 | 75 | 228 |
| T68 | Sam Nicholson (4) | 80 | 76 | 80 | 236 |
Quotable
Head coach Steve Bradley’s thoughts on Luke Gifford earning co-medalist honors:
“Luke played really, really well. It’s his first collegiate victory and I’m extremely happy for him and proud of him. At the beginning of the year when we sat down and talked, it was a goal of his to have a win. We can check that off and we create new goals now. He played the last 36 holes without a bogey, which is being in complete control of your golf ball, being in control of your emotions, being aggressive when you can and being smart when he had to be. It was a great victory for him.”
Bradley on Albin Bergstrom finishing a shot off the lead one event after earning co-medalist honors:
“Albin just continues to be a steady, really good player. He shot 5-under today after getting off to a little bit of a slow start in the first round. He really played well these final two rounds. I know he’s disappointed to not win, but I’m sure he’s pretty happy with his finish.”
Bradley on the Bulls’ overall performance that included a hole-in-one by Runchanapong Youprayong on Tuesday:
“We had a mixed bag of things. We got off to a little better start and didn’t do a whole lot well in the middle of the round, and we finished better. It leaves you with a little better taste in your mouth. Fourth isn’t what we wanted, but we played solid and there are certainly some positives to draw on. Run made a hole-in-one and shot 2-under today. We’ve got some things we need to work on. We’ll do some qualifying to get ready for our next event and hopefully we’ll go down to Quail Valley with everyone playing well.”
Notables
- USF has had a player earn co-medalist honors in consecutive events – Luke Gifford (Marquette Intercollegiate) and Albin Bergstrom (Windon Memorial Classic).
- Luke Gifford posted his first collegiate victory after finishing the tournament with consecutive bogey-free rounds.
- Runchanapong Youprayong led USF in par-3 scoring (2.92, -1) after making a hole-in-one on the par-3, 200-yard 16th hole Tuesday.
- Luke Gifford led the Bulls in par-4 scoring (3.90, -3) while Albin Bergstrom tied for the tournament lead in par-5 scoring (4.42, -7).
- Albin Bergstrom finished with a tournament-best 17 birdies.
Up Next
USF continues its fall season at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational Oct. 20-21 in Vero Beach, Fla.
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.
Tom Zebold
Senior Writer, Assistant Director of Communications
University of South Florida Athletics
GoUSFBulls.com
