TAMPA, FLA., February 28, 2024 – The University of South Florida men's golf team finished second in the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate on Wednesday and Jake Peacock picked up his first win as a Bull. A strong final round propelled South Florida to its fifth straight Top 4 finish of the season, including two wins in the Fall and a third-place finish in the first tournament of the Spring.
The individual title is the second of Peacock's career and first as a Bull. He has led USF with four Top 10 finishes on the season. Peacock's first win came in his collegiate debut while at Western Carolina in 2021.
Peacock (Milton, Ga.), a junior and member 2022-23 AAC Men's Golf All-Conference Team, was under par in all three rounds. He stood in third place entering the third round. He opened the final round with a birdie on his opening hole and birdied two of the first three holes. He carded six birdies on his round, offset by one bogey, for a 67 (-5). A birdie-par finish on the 53rd and 54th holes sealed the win. Peacock becomes the third Bull to win a tournament this season, joining Sam Nicholson and Brock Healy.
In Nevada, USF again displayed the strong play the team has shown all season. The Bulls closed with a 275 (-13) on Wednesday, tied for the low round of the tournament, to move up from sixth place into solo second place in the 22-team field. USF stood in third place after the first round on Monday and in sixth place Tuesday entering the final round. USF opened with a 281 (-7), followed by a 291 (+3) setting up the final round charge which saw the Bulls finish just two shots away from their third victory of the season.
Junior Shubham Jaglan (Jr., Delhi, India) matched teammate Peacock's final round of 67 (-5) to shoot 24 spots up the leaderboard into a tie for ninth, his second Top 10 finish of the season and fifth as a Bull. Jaglan, who recorded eight birdies in the final round, opened with a pair of even-par 72's in the first two rounds.
Graduate student Brock Healy (Norcross, Ga.), who captured his first win as Bull in the Fall, opened with a 68 (-4), followed up with a 75 (+3) and closed with a 72 (E).to finish tied for 34th.
Redshirt junior Cooper Smith (Tampa, Fla.) joined Healy in a tie for 34th. Smith, who strung together four straight birdies after opening with a par in the final round, closed with a 71 (-1). He opened with a 69 (-3) followed by a 75 (+3) in the second round.
Senior Sam Nicholson (Atlantic Beach, Fla.), who notched a win and his fifth Top 10 finish as a Bull in the Fall, closed with a scoring round of 70 (-2) to move up 20 spots into a tie for 65th. Nicholson shot a 74 (+2) and a 75 (+3) in the first two rounds.
Competing as an individual, Wilhelm Ryding (Fr., Tyreso, Sweden) finished tied for 90th. Ryding carded rounds of 75 (+3), 72 (E) and 76 (+4).
Bulls Team Scores
Place RD1 RD2 RD3 TOTAL
1st Jake Peacock (Jr., Milton, Ga.) 71 69 67 -9 (207)
T9 Shubham Jaglan (Jr., Delhi, India) 72 72 67 -5 (211)
T34 Brock Healy (Gr., Norcross, Ga.) 68 75 72 -1 (215)
T34 Cooper Smith (Redshirt Jr., Tampa, Fla.) 69 75 71 -1 (215)
T65 Sam Nicholson (Sr., Atlantic Beach, Fla.) 74 75 70 +3 (219)
Tournament Team Scores
Place RD1 RD2 RD3 TOTAL
1 VCU 286 281 277 -20 (844)
2 South Florida 280 291 275 -18 (846)
T3 Long Beach State 285 284 278 -17 (847)
T3 Arkansas State 287 279 281 -17 (847)
T5 Kansas City 293 286 275 -10 (854)
T5 Stetson 281 297 276 -10 (854)
T7 North Texas 286 290 279 -9 (855)
T7 Little Rock 277 290 288 -9 (855)
9 Santa Clara 278 290 288 -8 (856)
10 Texas State 294 282 284 -4 (860)
11 Middle Tennessee St. 285 293 285 -1 (863)
12 Northern Illinois 298 284 282 E (864)
13 Utah Tech University 287 293 285 +1 (865)
T14 Central Arkansas 290 296 281 +3 (867)
T14 Toledo 286 290 291 +3 (867)
16 Southern Illinois 286 299 286 +7 (871)
17 UNCW 292 287 293 +8 (872)
18 Louisiana 291 293 289 +9 (873)
19 UAB 301 287 286 +10 (874)
20 South Alabama 295 287 297 +15 (879)
21 New Mexico State 306 293 294 +29 (893)
22 DePaul 293 311 292 +32 (896)
Notables
• The Bulls tied for third with three eagles.
• USF was tied for third in par five scoring at 4.52.
Quoting Head Coach Steve Bradley
"We're extremely happy for Jake," said head coach Steve Bradley. "He's had a couple opportunities to win already this year but come up just a little short. I know it means a lot to him and he's probably been our most consistent player all season. He had some teammates win tournament titles ahead of him, and I think that motivated him. He's worked hard – more so on his mental game – and that's a big area of improvement for him. Proud of him and it was great to see the joy on his face after the win. He had a huge birdie on the 53rd hole and that helped seal the deal. Overall, the team battled hard today. We had a little talk with the guys last night and they showed up today. Certainly we would have loved to won, but second is much better than sixth, where we started the day."
Up Next
The Bulls will tee it up next in the Hayt Invitational on March 9-11 at Sawgrass CC in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
About USF Men's Golf
The USF men's golf program has captured 17 conference titles and has seen players earn 19 All-America honors. The Bulls have won five 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 nine straight NCAA Regional 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 23 tournament wins under Bradley including two in the 2023-24 season, by far the most under any coach in program history.
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