Joey Johnston– Athletics Senior Writer
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After finishing the fall season with a flourish — with team titles and individual champions in each of the final two tournaments — Coach Steve Bradley‘s USF men’s golf team is eagerly anticipating the spring and a return to national prominence.
“The best teams build momentum, get better each week, and play their best golf at the end of the fall and spring seasons,” Bulls associate head coach Brad Caldwell said. “So now we have confidence, but we also know it’s not even close to where we want to be.
“Golf is a hard sport. You get beat up a lot. Sometimes, you’re not sure of the best way to keep grinding in order to get better. But the flip of the script is the confidence we now have. We will work hard, but with great confidence and we believe we’re on the proper track to hit it just right when the spring begins.”
The Bulls captured the USF Invitational, tying Stetson for first place with a 16-under-par score in the 54-hole event at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville. Senior Sam Nicholson, competing as an individual, went 68-65-70 for a 13-under 203 (tying for first) and captured his initial career victory.
That was followed up by USF’s triumph at the Quail Valley Invitational in Vero Beach as the Bulls went 38-under in the 54-hole event, beating the Toledo Rockets by a shot. Graduate student Brock Healy, a transfer from Kennesaw State, had a 68-66-69 for a 13-under 203 to tie for first.
Junior Jake Peacock also showed well, finishing tied for fourth at Vero Beach (12-under 204), which included an opening-round 66, and also tying for fourth at Brooksville (7-under 209). Meanwhile, Nicholson tied for ninth (8-under 208) at Vero Beach, while Healy and junior Cooper Smith tied for 11th at Brooksville (5-under 211).
“This is my third college golf team, so I feel we have a level of talent and experiences that I haven’t seen before,” said Healy, who played his first season at NCAA Division II Valdosta State. “I feel like everyone on this team can win a golf tournament. It’s a really special feeling and blend of guys, so I’m super excited to be here at USF.
“I wasn’t playing my best golf at the beginning of the fall, but I feel like the coaches believed in me. So it’s very gratifying to get some results and I can’t wait to be a part of this in the spring. I feel like big things are ahead.”
And Healy should be right in the middle of it.
“When we were recruiting Brock, this is the kind of guy we thought we were getting — super-confident, borderline cocky, a player who was going to make everybody better around him,” Caldwell said. “Any time you move and go into a new situation, you’re thinking, ‘How am I going to fit in?’ It took a little bit for him to get adjusted, but I think Brock’s results speak for themselves.
“He has one more semester of this. And he knows that. We preach it to him. He knows he has to give it his all. He has really embraced that. And now he’s starting to see the fruits of his labor.”
Nicholson said his performance in Brooksville had obvious highlights, but his most memorable shot was making a 6-foot putt in the opening round’s third hole to avoid going 3-over-par. After that, he was sailing.
“This is my last sprint through college golf, so obviously I want us to win as many times as we can, win the conference, hopefully win the regional and go compete for a national championship,” Nicholson said. “Now that we’ve done that, win a couple of tournaments, it kind of takes the pressure off.
“Individually, I was rough around the edges when I got here. I think I’ve been able to improve. Getting my first tournament win (in college) is obviously big and I hope the confidence from that will carry over into the spring.”
Caldwell said Nicholson’s standout performance is a good sign for the Bulls.
“We’ve seen the full evolution of Sam, being a fifth-year guy,” Caldwell said. “And he is the ultimate barometer for us. When he plays well, we play well.
“We never put that kind of pressure on him. But when you have the realization that, hey, the success of this team kind of depends on me … it makes you bring it each and every day. Seeing him get over the hump and produce like this is really, really cool.”
Coming into last season, after the departure of All-American Albin Bergstrom, the Bulls had made nine consecutive NCAA Regional appearances, while earning four overall NCAA Championship berths. But last spring became a program anomaly with a five-player team due to transfers, defections and early entries to the professional ranks.
The replenished Bulls are aiming for the American Athletic Conference championship along with a return to the NCAA Regional.
“Last year, our whole season was an adverse situation, but you grow from adversity,” Caldwell said. “Now I feel like we have a much deeper roster with lots of competition and the guys are close. They’re trying to beat each other’s brains in during qualifying, then they are brothers when they hang out together. So we can get back on track. There’s definitely a good vibe.”
“Winning the two fall events was great, but now it’s a total reset for the spring because that’s a totally different animal,” Nicholson said. “We’re trying to stack weeks together and ultimately peak for the conference championship. Last year was a little bit of a fluke. I feel like we’re on the way to getting back where we need to be as a program.”
