IRVING, Texas – For the first time in tournament history, the American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf Championship is headed to Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Florida. The tournament will kick off on April 23 and run through April 25 with teams playing three 18-hole rounds. Eight teams from The American will play in pairs in a five-count-four scoring format.
Tee times will begin on April 23 between 8-8:34 a.m. (ET) off the first tee with No. 7 seed East Carolina and No. 8 seed Temple pairing off. Players from No. 5 seed Wichita State and No. 6 seed Memphis will head out from 8:43-9:17 a.m., followed immediately by No. 3 seed UCF and No. 4 seed Cincinnati at 9:25-9:59 a.m. No. 1 seed SMU and No. 2 seed USF are set to take the course from 10:08-10:42 a.m. to round out the entries on day one. The field will be re-paired for both day two and day three based on subsequent scoring.
MEMPHIS LOOKS TO DEFEND AS AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP ARRIVES AT SOUTHERN HILLS
After ending USF’s dominant reign of four straight American team championships in 2019, Memphis heads to Southern Hills attempting to be the first team other than the Bulls to successfully defend a team men’s golf championship since the conference was reconstituted in 2014. SMU (2014) is the only other team champion other than Memphis and USF in tournament history.
NO. 20 MUSTANGS TRYING TO RETURN TO THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Following two straight runner—up finishes in the conference tournament team draw, No. 20 SMU enters the 2021 American Men’s Golf Championship as the highest rated team in the latest league standings according to GolfStat. The Mustangs finished 12 strokes behind Memphis at the 2019 conference tournament and 20 shots behind USF in 2018, when both events were held at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida. SMU has seen two individual medalists at the American Men’s Golf Championship since 2014, with Mac Meissner claiming the win by six shots in 2019. The inaugural American individual champion was SMU’s Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open winner, in 2014 at Innisbrook.
WHERE TEAMS FROM THE AMERICAN STAND IN THE LATEST GOLFSTAT RANKINGS
SMU enters the American Men’s Golf Championship slotted 20th in the latest GolfStat team rankings on April 20 to pace the conference. USF (35) and UCF (64) are also ranked in the team top 100 entering the American Men’s Golf Championship.
SMU’s Noah Goodwin is the current top-ranked individual in The American, entering the American Men’s Championship slotted 11th in the latest GolfStat rankings. Teammate Mac Meissner was just behind Goodwin at 13th, and USF’s Albin Bergstrom checked in 58th. UCF’s Johnny Travale was 91st according to GolfStat to round out American players among the top 100.
AMERICAN MEN’S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUTS AT SOUTHERN HILLS
For the first time in tournament history, the American Men’s Golf Championship will be contested at the Southern Hills Plantation Golf Club in Brooksville, Florida. The course will play at a par-72 and measure approximately 7,221 yards for the weekend.
Southern Hills was designed by renowned golf course architect Pete Dye and opened for play in 2006. The club has hosted both PGA TOUR and Korn Ferry Tour qualifying school tournaments and has served as a Monday qualifier site for the PGA TOUR’s Valspar Championship at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor.