PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The American Athletic Conference announced its 2019 men’s golf major awards and all-conference team on Wednesday afternoon. SMU sophomore Mac Meissner earned Player of the Year honors while USF’s Albin Bergstrom was unanimously chosen as the Freshman of the Year. Memphis’ Blake Smart was selected as Coach of the Year. Seven different teams had a least one player on the all-conference team.
Meissner earns his second-straight American Athletic Conference major award after earning Freshman of the Year in 2018. SMU’s standout won his first individual tournament in grand fashion as he won the 2019 American Championship last week by six strokes. Meissner became the first player in American Championship history to card three-straight rounds under 70. He led from wire-to-wire and posted the best 54-hole score in American Athletic Conference Championship history. His 13-under ranks two strokes better than the previous mark set by USF' Ryan Fricker in 2015 at Black Diamond Ranch. His 200 at Copperhead also broke the previous best score in four championship seasons; a 7-under, 206 set by fellow Mustang Bryson DeChambeau in 2014.
Bergstrom becomes the second USF player to earn Freshman of the Year as last year’s American Athletic Conference Champion Claudio Correa took home the honor in 2015. The first-year golf is the second-highest ranked player in the conference at No. 60 in the current Golfstat rankings. He posted a 70.45 adjusted scoring average for the 2018-19 season. Bergstrom cracked 70 in his first collegiate round at Copperhead and finished the American Championship at 1-under, 212 to tie for fifth overall.
Smart led Memphis to its first-ever American Athletic Conference Championship as the Tigers four leading scorers all placed in the top-12. The conference crown is Memphis’ first in seven years. The Tigers now advance to their first NCAA Championship since 2016. Smart’s Tigers combined to shoot even-par for the championship tournament and won the title by 12 strokes as Innisbrook’s challenging Copperhead Course. Smart is just the third coach to earn the top postseason honor as SMU’s Josh Gregory garnered the inaugural honor before USF’s Steve Bradley took the last four.
Meissner was joined by teammate Noah Goodwin on the All-Conference Team. SMU, UCF, Memphis and USF each boasted two all-league selections. The Knights’ Bobby Bai and Kyler Tate along with the Tigers’ Brad Bawden and Chase Harris, and the Bulls’ Bergstrom and Alex Flexsenhar all made the all-conference team chosen by the league’s head coaches. Cincinnati’s Austin Squires, UConn’s Jimmy Hervol and ECU’s Blake Taylor rounded out the team. Bai, Bergstrom, Meissner, Squires and Tate were all unanimous selections and the quintet set the mark for most consensus picks in conference history.
2019 American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Player of the Year
Mac Meissner, SMU
2019 American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Freshman of the Year
Albin Bergstrom, USF *
2019 American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Coach of the Year
Blake Smart, Memphis
2019 American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf All-Conference Team
Bobby Bai, UCF *
Brad Bawden, Memphis
Albin Bergstrom, USF *
Kyle Flexsenhar, USF
Noah Goodwin, SMU
Chase Harris, Memphis
Jimmy Hervol, UConn
McClure Meissner, SMU *
Austin Squires, Cincinnati *
Kyler Tate, UCF *
Blake Taylor, ECU
*unanimous