TAMPA, MARCH 12, 2015 - Trending in the right direction this spring with two big finishes against top-flight fields, the USF men's golf team heads into its third tournament of the spring with an added boost of confidence, heading to a familiar course.
The Bulls tee off the three-day, 54-hole event Friday morning at the Seminole Intercollegiate on the par-72, 7172-yard Southwood Golf Course with the tournament's reigning individual champion and the coach of the reigning team's champion donning green and gold.
“We've all had success at this course before, except for Claudio (Correa), he'll be seeing it for the first time,” head coach Steven Bradley said. Bradley led his former Mercer team to a tournament championship at Southwood last season. “Trey Valentine won here individually last season, and the rest of our team is familiar with the course.”
The Bulls seem to have had success everywhere so far this season. Ranked ninth by Golfstat, USF has used a pair of underclassmen in sophomore Rigel Fernandes and freshman Claudio Correa to win one tournament this spring, finishing third in the other.
“Rigel has really improved his short game,” Bradley said. “He's a better putter and a better chipper than his freshman season, and I think he's got some confidence now that if he misses a green, he can still get up and down instead of carding a bogey. That's contributed to his scoring.”
Individually, Correa posted his own championship at the Gator Invitational to kick off the spring, carding a hole-in-one en route to the top spot.
“Claudio is all-around talented. He has kind of a Latin flair, with real good touch and creativity on the course,” Bradley said. “His contributions as a freshman combined with some of our other pieces makes for a pretty good team.”
But success or not, the fields USF plays against are not getting easier. For the third consecutive event, the Bulls will square off against No. 2 Florida State, while No. 7 Georgia Tech, No. 8 South Carolina and No. 19 Virginia headline a 17-team who's who of opposition. With the Bulls' recent success however, Bradley said the team welcomes another challenge.
“When the team starts to see itself having success against some of these top teams, I think that's when the guys start believing they are as good as these opponents,” he said. “Our guys play with a little bit of a chip on their shoulders because some of these other schools never recruited them, and now they're starting to feel like they belong as well.”
Follow the Bulls throughout the tournament, HERE.
