USF Athletics

Record-Breaking Bergstrom Leads Bulls to Wire-to-Wire Win

March 05, 2019

TEAM SCORES
PLAYER SCORES
 
By TOM ZEBOLD
USF Senior Writer

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., MARCH 5, 2019 – Record-breaking Albin Bergstrom captured his first individual collegiate title while No. 23 USF men's golf ran away from the field in a 23-shot victory at the Fort Lauderdale Intercollegiate on Tuesday.

Bergstrom set the program's new 54-hole scoring record for a par-72 tournament with a 15-under 201. The freshman from Ljunghusen, Sweden broke USF's 36-hole (par 72) record Monday with an 11-under 133 (67-66) and finished with a 4-under 68 in the final round to secure a nine-shot victory at Fort Lauderdale Country Club.

USF captured its first tournament team title of the season in wire-to-wire fashion by carding a 24-under 840, 23 shots ahead of second-place Florida Gulf Coast University. The Bulls finished strong Tuesday with the low round of the day, a 4-under 284, that helped Steve Bradley register his 17^th title victory as the program's head coach since the 2014-15 season.

Freshman Luke Gifford posted his first top-five finish as a Bull by placing third in the 75-player field with a 5-under 211. The Boca Raton, Fla., native carded two under-par rounds Monday (68-70) and finished third in the field with 15 total birdies.

Kyle Flexsenhar tied for 13^th place at 1-over in his fifth top-25 performance of the season. The junior from Lake Mary, Fla., opened the tournament with a 2-under 70 and shot even par Tuesday after a 2-under run on the front nine.

Anthony Muttillo had a successful debut in the lineup, tying for 20^th place at 2-over. The freshman from Boca Raton, Fla., set a new career best with consecutive rounds of 1-under 71 Monday and tied for second in the field with a par-5 scoring average of 4.58 (-5).
 
 
USF Lineup Scores

Pos.	Team/Player (seed)	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Total
1	South Florida	276	280	284	840
1	Albin Bergstrom (1)	67	66	68	201
3	Luke Gifford (3)	68	70	73	211
T13	Kyle Flexsenhar (2)	70	75	72	217
T20	Anthony Muttillo (5)	71	71	76	218
T34	Ryoto Furuya (4)	79	73	71	223

 
Quotable
Assistant coach Brad Caldwell on the young Bulls finishing strong for a wire-to-wire win:
"It's great. In collegiate team golf, you don't get an opportunity to win all the time and when you do, you want to take advantage of that. We preached all week going in, 'Stay in the present. Stay in the now.' I thought they did a pretty good job of that all week. We got off to really solid start today and we kind of leaked some oil in the middle of the round. The course got tough and the wind switched and started blowing a little harder. We faced a little adversity and they all stepped up and held it together there coming down the stretch. We had the low round of the day again today and you want to win each day."

Caldwell on what a title victory does for USF, which had three freshmen and two juniors in the lineup:
"This is a big stretch of golf we're just starting. This is the first of three in a row before a couple weeks off and then we're almost at conference. You want to continue to build each and every week before we get to postseason. This is just that first step. We're checking off one goal and moving to the next. This gives us confidence and some motivation moving forward."

Caldwell on freshman Albin Bergstrom, who broke school records on the way to capturing the individual title:
"He continues to impress us each and every day. He's the most competitive kid I've had the opportunity to coach and he has the upmost confidence in anything he does. That speaks to why he's been successful. He believes he can hit any shot and more often than not he does."

Notables

• Tuesday marked USF's first tournament team title victory of the season and the 17^th under the guidance of head coach Steve Bradley since his Bulls debut in 2014-15. The Bulls have captured at least one title in each season with Bradley at the helm – 2014-15 (5), 2015-16 (4), 2016-17 (2), 2017-18 (5), 2018-19 (1).
• Freshman Albin Bergstrom won his first individual collegiate title while setting USF's new 54-hole scoring record for a par-72 tournament with a 15-under 201. Bergstrom set the program's 36-hole scoring record Monday with an 11-under 133.
• Bergstrom led the 75-player field in par-4 scoring (3.73, -8) and par-5 scoring (4.50, -6) and collected the most birdies with 19. The freshman also carded an eagle and shot par or better on 49 of 54 holes.
• USF led the 12-team field in par-4 scoring (3.98, -3) and totaled the most birdies with 61.
• Freshman Anthony Muttillo tied for second in the field with a par-5 scoring average of 4.58 (-5).
• Freshman Luke Gifford ranked third in the field with 15 total birdies.
• Playing as an individual, freshman Amadeo Figus tied for 34^th place at 7-over after carding consecutive rounds of 73 on Monday.

 
Up Next
The Bulls will host the two-day USF Invitational that begins Monday, March 11 at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club.
 
About USF Men's Golf
USF men's golf has captured the past four American Athletic Conference Championship titles in wire-to-wire fashion and made six straight trips to NCAA Regionals. The program is led by Steve Bradley, who has earned American Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors the past four seasons. Follow @USFMGolf on Twitter for the latest information concerning the program.