BROOKSVILLE, Fla. – Wichita State's
Marcus Wochner is tied for first-place through 18 holes at the American Athletic Conference Men's Golf Championship.
The sophomore from Denmark played 18 holes of bogey-free golf on Friday morning at Southern Hills Plantation Club and sank five birdies on the back nine to finish the day at 6-under, 66.
Wochner currently shares the lead with South Florida's duo of Luke Gifford and Kyle Flexsenhar.
The field of 40 individuals includes four golfers who rank among the top-100 nationally.
Wochner's 66 was a season-best and tied 2019 winner Mac Meissner of SMU for the lowest opening round in an AAC Championship. It's also the best round by a Shocker in a conference event since 2008 when Connor McHenry fired a second-round 66 in route to the MVC individual title.
Day-one success is nothing new for Wochner. He's shot par-or-better in the first round in five of WSU's six spring tournaments with a 69.5 stroke average.
WSU otherwise struggled on Friday.
Zac Owens (76),
Frank Thomas (76),
Dawson Lewis (79) and
Brock Polhill (80) all rank among the bottom-fourth on the leaderboard, and the Shockers (+9) are last among the eight teams – one shot back of seventh-place Temple (+8).
Playing less than 50 miles from its campus, USF placed all five golfers inside the top-10 to build a commanding 15-stroke lead over Memphis in the team standings at 18-under-par.
Action continues Saturday and Sunday with the second and third rounds. Track live scoring via golfstat.com and follow @GoShockersMGLF and @AmericanMWGolf on Twitter for updates throughout the weekend.
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Apr. 23-25, 2021 | Brooksville, Fla. | Southern Hills Plantation Club
Par 72 | 7,221 Yards | 8 Teams | 40 Individuals
18 of 54 Holes Completed
Individual Leaderboard:
1. Marcus Wochner (WSU) – 66 (-6)
1. Luke Gifford (USF) – 66 (-6)
1. Kyle Flexsenhar (USF) – 66 (-6)
4. #58 Albin Bergstrom (USF) – 68 (-4)
4. Clement Charmasson (UCF) – 68 (-4)
Shocker Entries:
T1. Wochner – 66 (-6)
T34. Owens – 76 (+4)
T34. Thomas – 76 (+4)
39. Lewis – 79 (+7)
40. Polhill – 80 (+8)
Team Standings:
1. #35 South Florida – 270 (-18)
2. Memphis – 285 (-3)
T3. #20 SMU – 287 (-1)
T3. East Carolina – 287 (-1)
5. UCF – 288 (E)
6. Cincinnati – 289 (+1)
7. Temple – 296 (+8)
8. Wichita State – 297 (+9)
