BROOKSVILLE, Fla. -- The Wichita State men's golf team is looking to climb the ladder at this week's American Athletic Conference Championship, Friday through Sunday at picturesque Southern Hills Plantation Club.
The Shockers finished at the bottom of the standings in each of their first two American Championships (2018 and 2019) but will take a far more experienced lineup into the 2021 event.
WSU is seeded fifth out of eight teams (Houston announced Wednesday that it will not participate due to positive COVID-19 cases and contact tracing within its program).
Play begins Friday morning with 18 holes. Shocker golfers will hit the first tee box between 7:43 and 8:17 a.m. CT.
Track live scoring throughout the weekend on golfstat.com and follow @GoShockersMGLF on Twitter.
Sunday's final round with air on ESPN+ with live action from the 17
th and 18
th holes. ESPN+ subscribers can stream live and on demand via the ESPN App. ESPN+ subscriptions are $5.99 monthly or $49.99 annually and can be packaged with Hulu and Disney+ streaming services.
Event: American Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship
Dates: Friday, April 23 to Sunday, April 25
Location: Brooksville, Fla.
Course: Southern Hills Golf Club
Yardage: 7,221
Par: 72
Format: 54 holes, Five-count-four scoring format for each round.
Tee Times: TBA, Staggered
Live Scoring: GolfStat
Teams (9): #103 Cincinnati, #144 East Carolina, #61 Houston, #122 Memphis, #20 SMU, #35 South Florida, #205 Temple, #64 UCF, #118 Wichita State)
Ranked Players in the Field (7): #11 Noah Goodwin (SMU), #13 McClure Meissner (SMU), #58 Albin Bergstrom (USF), #91 Johnny Travale (UCF), #145 Luke Gifford (USF), #198 Alexander Frances (Houston), #247 Sam Nicholson (USF)
The Shocks in Short:
- Wichita State has finished fifth or better in four of its five spring events, including a first-place showing at the GCU Invitational and a runner-up finish in Missouri State's Twin Oaks Intercollegiate.
- The Shockers' 289.7 stroke average is the program's best since the 2011-12 season. After leaning heavily on youth the last two seasons, WSU is benefiting from experience. A
- ll five Shockers in this weekend's lineup are in at least their third season of collegiate golf.
- WSU has also benefited from balance with four different stroke leaders in five spring events.
The Head Coach:
- Former WSU All-American Judd Easterling is in his second season as head coach after three years as an assistant under Shocker Hall of Famer Grier Jones.
- In just 11 events (the equivalent of one full season), Easterling has already guided WSU to two tournament titles (last year at New Mexico State and earlier this spring at the GCU Invitational). Friday will mark Easterling's American Championship debut. As a player, he helped WSU capture back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference titles in 2003 and 2004.
WSU at the AAC Championship:
- The Shockers won 21 MVC titles, including 15 over a 19-year stretch between 1999 and 2017, but stepped into a new weight class with their move to the American Athletic Conference.
- WSU had 19 individual medalists in the MVC era – most recently Louis Cohen Boyer in 2015. Yannik Emmert posted the Shockers' best American era finish in 2019, tying for ninth.
- At the 2018 American Championship WSU finished 10th out of 10 teams – seven back of ninth-place UConn. Senior Gage Ihrig tied for 15th individually at plus-5.
- The Shockers finished 10th again in 2019 – 12 shots back of Houston. Their five-man lineup included four freshmen. Three of them are competing this weekend.
- The 2020 championship was canceled due to COVID-19.
The Course:
- Set among mature stands of trees and rolling hills, the golf course at Southern Hills Plantation Club was designed by Pete Dye and opened in 2006.
- Located in the town of Brooksville, just north of Tampa, Fla., Southern Hills is home to the prestigious PGA Tour and Web.com Tour qualifying school.
- The par-72 course is laid out of over 7,557 yards of Bermuda grass and has been recognized by Golf Weekly as one of the top 100 residential courses in the United States.
American Notes:
- This is the seventh installment of the American Championship and the third different course. Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club (Palm Harbor, Fla.) hosted in 2014, 2017, 2018 and 2019, while the 2015 and 2016 championships were played at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, Fla.
- Past AAC champions include SMU (2014), USF (2015-18) and Memphis (2019).
- SMU will be the top seed in 2021, followed by No. 2 South Florida, No. 3 UCF, No. 4 Cincinnati, No. 5 WSU, No. 6 Memphis, No. 7 East Carolina and No. 8 Temple.
Shocker Lineup:
1 -- Marcus Wochner (So.*)
23-year-old Denmark native has made an instant impact this year after two seasons at Odessa (Texas) College, where he was an honorable mention NJCAA All-American… WSU's leader in birdies (60) and stroke average (71.8). The latter would be WSU's lowest in four years and rank among the top-10 season marks in Shocker history… Has finished in the top-15 at four of WSU's five spring events… On Mar. 25, became the first Shocker ever to win the AAC's player of the week award after a solo third-place showing at the Twin Oaks Intercollegiate in Springfield, Mo… Par-or-better in eight of his 15 rounds, including three rounds in the 60s… Consistently strong starter has a 70.2 first-round stroke average… Ranks among the top-100 nationally in par-4 stroke average (4.04)… No. 3 in the AAC and 58
th nationally in subpar stroke average (4.13).
2 – Zac Owens (R-So.*)
Ranks second on the team in birdies (53) and stroke average (72.9)… Has four eagles this year (tied for 39
thnationally as of Wednesday) and eight for his career… Under par in five of his 15 rounds this season… Ranks fourth in the AAC and No. 71 nationally in sub-par stroke average (4.07)…Back-to-back top-5 finishes to open up the 2021 spring season but has struggled the last three weeks… Set to compete in his 23
rdcareer event – most among active Shockers – and is two birdies shy of 200… Career stroke average (72.86) would rank among the best in program history. Just three Shockers have fared lower over 40+ career rounds: Louis Cohen Boyer (72.2 from 2011-15), Dustin Garza (72.4 from 2006-10) and Ryan Spears (72.6 from 2004-08), all of whom went on to play professionally… Owns five career top-5 finishes, including individual medalist honors in his collegiate debut at the 2018 Joe Feaganes Marshall Invitational… As a true freshman, tied for 40
th out of 50 entries at the 2019 AAC Championship (229, +16).
3 – Dawson Lewis (So.*)
North Texas native is in action for the 22
nd time in three seasons as a Shocker… 74.6 stroke average is down from last year's 72.3… Carded a team-high 62 birdies in 18 rounds during the 2019-20 season and won his first individual title (New Mexico State's Herb Wimberly Invitational)… Has shown flashes this year, including a 28
th-place finish against an elite field at the Hootie at Bulls Bay… As a true freshman, tied for 40
th out of 50 golfers at the 2019 AAC Championship (+16, 229).
4 – Brock Polhill (So.*)
WSU's most-improved golfer has shaved more than two strokes off last year's average (73.1; down from 75.2) while has posting three top-20 finishes… Finished solo fifth earlier this month at the Missouri Tiger Invitational, helped by a personal-best 6-under, 66 in the opening round… As a true freshman, finished 44
thout of 50 entries in the 2019 AAC Championship (+19, 232)… Former Oklahoma Class 6A individual state champion for Edmond North High School… One of six players on the WSU roster that played high school basketball (along with Owens and Thomas).
5 – Frank Thomas (Sr.*)
74.9 stroke average across nine rounds this year… Tied for 14
th at the Missouri Tiger Invitational… Graduate transfer left his mark in four seasons at Southern Illinois where he ranked among the top-10 in career stroke average (74.88) and tied the school's 18-hole record (64)…. Part of a Saluki squad that won the 2019 MVC Championship and competed in the NCAA Louisville Regional… Predominantly right-handed but golfs left-handed.
