Men’s golf heading to NCAA Championship

Junior Luke Gifford had an overall score of 217-point performance in West Palm to help push the team into the NCAA Championship. USF ATHLETICS PHOTO

After a successful outing in the NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regionals, South Florida has qualified for the NCAA Championship in Scottsdale, Arizona.

At regionals, the Bulls finished in four out of 14 on the 72-par, 7048 yards of green thanks to the collective contribution of the team. Some golfers were able to give the Bulls the momentum they needed throughout the tournament.

Sophomore Sam Nicholson gave South Florida a 68, 71 and 74 performance in team scoring and finished sixth overall at the PGA National Resort, racking 213 points for the Bulls.

Junior Luke Gifford also supplied big strides for the Bulls, with a 217-point performance over the course of 72, 74 and 71 rounds.

With a group production of 876 points, the Bulls overcame many ranked schools, including No. 15 Notre Dame, No. 26 Purdue and No. 34 New Mexico, who attended the regional as well.

The program will have to face teams like No. 1 Vanderbilt, No. 10 Florida and No. 22 Florida State in the championship, all taking the top three spots in the regional scoring 862 or lower.

This will be the fourth time in program history the Bulls advance to the national championship, with their last appearance being in 2016.

The Bulls will head to Arizona on May 27 to compete in the first round of the Championship that will run through June 1 at the Grayhawk Golf Club.