Bulls and Bergstrom Carry Big Momentum Into Spring Men's Golf Season
2022 USF MEN'S GOLF MEDIA GUIDE
By Joey Johnston
In the past, USF men's golf coach Steve Bradley has sidestepped any talk of great expectations. Not this season. He welcomes the Bull's-eye. He believes his team is capable of defending its American Athletic Conference Tournament championship and even contending for a national title.
"We're not going to sugar-coat what we have,'' said Bradley, whose team begins the spring season at the Florida Gators Invitational, a two-day event beginning Saturday in Gainesville. "We think we have the team to do big things.''
The biggest reason for Bradley's optimism might be junior Albin Bergstrom, the defending AAC individual champion, who is coming off a sterling fall (69.25 scoring average, 11 of his 12 rounds at par or better) and enters the spring owning seven USF season or career records and on pace to set at least two more.
"Everything has changed with Albin,'' Bradley said. "He's still the same person, looks-wise. But he's more mature and more serious about what he wants to do. He wants to leave our program better than where he found it. I think very big things are ahead for him.''
And there's one very big thing behind Bergstrom as well — perhaps the most significant putt in USF men's golf history. It still makes him smile. It still gives chills to Bradley.
It was the final round of last spring's AAC Championships at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville. Bergstrom was 50 feet away on the 18th hole, pin high to the right. The break was right to left. Realistically, it was a two-putt opportunity. But Bergstrom made a nice run at it and the ball trickled in from the hole's backside.
The Bulls had clinched the AAC team championship, the program's fifth in its last six attempts.
Bergstrom had clinched the individual title, firing a final-round 66 and becoming the fourth USF player — joining Claudio Correa (2018), Aksel Olsen (2016) and Ryan Fricker (2015) — to earn AAC medalist honors.
On one putt.
"Obviously, you need some luck in that situation and it was just fate that it went in,'' Bradley said. "That was an amazing moment. It was pretty neat to see Albin's reaction because he's not an overly emotional guy. But to see how he pulled that off, it was a moment I won't forget.''
Neither will Bergstrom.
"It was an amazing feeling,'' said Bergstrom, a native of Falsterbo, Sweden. "It was the perfect ending of a great week and it was a bonus, good for myself and the team. What I live for is to win events, so to have it happen like that just showed me that all my hard work is paying off.''
Bergstrom, a two-time PING honorable mention All-American and a three-time All-Southeast Region honoree, was named the 2020-21 USF Male Student-Athlete of the Year by the Sports Club of Tampa Bay. He has long made a distinguished name for himself.
Now comes a larger challenge — raising the bar.
"Yes, I do feel I can get better because I feel like I will be better prepared for every tournament,'' Bergstrom said. "I know what I have to do to get better. I can hit more shots that I couldn't hit before.
"When you play against the better players, you get better. I feel like our competition has been good and we are ready to show what we can do.''
Bradley said USF "got lucky'' when he spotted Bergstrom with the Swedish national team during an event in Scotland. Bulls assistant coach Brad Caldwell took a look when Bergstrom came to an American tournament and that officially made him USF's recruiting priority.
As for Bergstrom, his dream was always to find a spot on a U.S. college team. Of course, he loves the year-round golfing opportunities in Tampa. There have been adjustments while being a 15-hour flight from his hometown, but Bergstrom said the USF campus and his teammates have made for a welcoming situation.
"I always miss my family and friends, but I've been able to get away, grow up a bit, live on my own, take care of my own business,'' Bergstrom said. "It's not like I have an hour flight to Sweden. It can be a hard thing sometimes. But this has been a great place for my golf. My goal is to play professionally one day and my game has improved here at USF.''
Back home, Bergstrom was often limited to practicing at indoor facilities due to Sweden's frigid weather. For more than a decade, he played high-level handball along with golf. Ultimately, though, he felt his golf potential was more promising and he wanted to emulate his brother, Emil, a golf coach in Sweden.
On an 82-degree January day in Tampa, before heading off for a practice round, Bergstrom was asked if he knew that day's weather in his hometown.
"Zero Celsius,'' Bergstrom said with a smile.
Bergstrom grew up with cross-country skiing. He still takes skiing vacations with his family to places such as Austria, France and Italy. Bradley encourages such diversions to give Bergstrom a mental break, time to recharge the batteries.
As of now, though, Bergstrom is focused on having the best possible golf season for himself and his Bull teammates.
"If everyone does what they need to do in preparation, then plays for themself, the team will benefit,'' Bergstrom said. "If everyone on our team is the best individual player they can be, our team will be the best it can be. Golf is an individual sport, but you can also win as a team.''
Occasionally, even on one majestic putt, you can accomplish both goals. It was a magic moment that Bergstrom won't forget.
