USF men's golf team ready to tee it up for a trip to the National Championship

TAMPA, Fla. - The USF men’s golf team is celebrating winning its 6th American Athletic Conference Championship in the last 10 years, which earned the program a 20th conference title, tying the school record for the most among all of their sports.

Now, the Bulls advance to the NCAA Regionals. It's the 8th time head coach Steve Bradley will go to Regionals in the past decade. 

"First off, it never gets old hat," Bradley told Fox 13 Sports. "It's great to be in this situation. You get these opportunities and I think everyone feels fortunate to be in this situation."

USF is anchored by junior Jake Peacock, this year's AAC player of the year, who just won the conference's individual championship by five shots. All three of his rounds were in the 60s and he wrapped up the title with a career-best 64. He's playing his best golf at the most important time of the year.

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"The game is in a great spot right now," Peacock explained. "I need to treat it the same way, like any other round of golf. Not get too ahead of myself, or focus on the future, or the previous hole. Just simplify things and do the best that I can to worry about the shot at hand."

The NCAA Regional Tournament will be played in San Diego, California. It’ll be in a different time zone, on a different type of course, and they'll be playing on a different type of grass, bentgrass versus Bermuda grass. That's why USF scheduled a trip to San Diego to play in a tournament back in March to prepare themselves for the changes.

"I think for a time zone, we've got to do a better job of keeping them occupied earlier in the day," Bradley said. "We don't tee off until 10 a.m. on Sunday, so we are going to get up, get a little exercise, have breakfast. We just have to keep their minds off kind of what's going on. You don't want them to overthink things too much."

The Bulls need a top 5 finish at the Regionals to be one of the 30 schools to play for the National Championship. 

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