IRVING, Texas – Four teams and an additional individual from the American Athletic Conference were selected to regional sites for the 2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship on Wednesday.
SMU, the 2022 American champion, earned the conference’s automatic bid with a nine-shot victory last month at Southern Hills Plantation Club in Brooksville, Florida. The Mustangs were seeded eighth at the 2022 NCAA Bryan Regional. South Florida (seventh seed at the 2022 NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional), Houston (10th seed at the 2022 NCAA Stockton Regional) and UCF (11th seed at the 2022 NCAA New Haven Regional) joined SMU as at-large selections into team competition. Cincinnati’s Sam Jean secured an at-large bid into NCAA Regionals as the lone unattached individual representing The American as the number six seed at the 2022 NCAA Columbus Regional.
The 2022 NCAA Regional schedule will feature six tournament sites, with 13 teams and 10 unattached individuals participating at three sites and 14 teams and five unattached individuals playing at three sites on May 16-18. The top five team finishers and best individual from a non-qualifying team at each regional site will advance to the 2022 NCAA Championship on May 27-June 1 at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The four team selections from The American are the second-most in a season in conference history, trailing only the six regional bids the league earned in its inaugural 2014 season. Four teams representing The American have now qualified for regional play three times, 2015, 2016 and 2022.
South Florida claimed the top seed among all American teams and is set for a ninth straight NCAA Regional appearance under head coach Steve Bradley, locking up the seventh seed at the PGA National Resort Champions Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Unanimous 2022 American Player of the Year Albin Bergstrom was the top-ranked player in the conference at 23rd nationally as of May 4 according to Golfstat and was joined by teammate Run Youprayong on this season’s all-conference team. The Bulls also checked in as the conference’s top squad at 40th in Golfstat’s NCAA DI golf rankings. South Florida has previously advanced to the NCAA Championship Finals on three occasions, 1987, 2015 and 2016. The best postseason finish for the Bulls occurred at the 2015 NCAA Championship, placing sixth out of 15 teams at that season’s tournament finals in Bradenton, Florida.
SMU fired an American Men’s Golf Championship 54-hole record score of 835 (-29) to capture the 2022 conference title and earn the eighth seed at the Traditions Club in Bryan. Chris Parra captured his first conference coach of the year honor at the helm of the Mustangs and Noah Goodwin and 2022 American Men’s Golf Championship medalist Nathan Petronzio claimed all-conference honors. SMU, ranked 43rd in the Golfstat national rankings as of May 4, is set for its 24th NCAA Regional appearance in program history and will look to advance to the finals of the NCAA Championship for the 23rd time (third straight). Eight-time PGA TOUR winner and 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau captured the 2015 NCAA individual national title in Bradenton representing SMU and The American.
Houston heard its name called for NCAA Regionals for the second straight season under director of golf Jonathan Dismuke and the 22nd time in program history. The Cougars were seeded 10th for play at The Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton, California. Four Houston players; Alexander Frances, Austyn Reily, Braxton Watkins and Marcus Wochner; led The American by each claiming 2022 all-conference accolades. Houston has reached the NCAA Championship Finals on 48 prior occasions and has won 16 national championships.
UCF was the third at-large selection from The American and marks its return to NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2018 as the 11th seed at The Course at Yale in New Haven, Connecticut. A pair of Knights, Teddy Tetak and Johnny Travale, captured all-conference honors and joined teammate Egor Eroshenko as top-10 finishers at the 2022 American Men’s Golf Championship. UCF has qualified for NCAA Regionals on 20 occasions and has reached the finals of the NCAA Championship eight times, including back-to-back campaigns in 2017 and 2018 for head coach Bryce Wallor.
Jean will represent The American as Cincinnati’s seventh all-time individual NCAA qualifier and is seeded sixth at the OSU Golf Club Scarlet Course in Columbus, Ohio. Former Bearcat and American standout Austin Squires placed 21st at the 2017 NCAA West Lafayette Regional for the best individual regional showing in program history. Jean was one of two all-conference selections from Cincinnati this season after posting a stroke average of 71.56 over 12 tournaments, highlighted by a win at the 2021 Wisconsin Badger Invitational on Sept. 26-28 and five additional top-10 showings.
American Athletic Conference Men’s Golf
2022 NCAA Division I Men’s Golf Championship
NCAA Regionals (Top five teams, low individual from non-qualifying teams advance from each site)
NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional – May 16-18; PGA National Resort; Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
No. 7 seed South Florida (at-large)
NCAA Bryan Regional – May 16-18; Traditions Club; Bryan, Texas
No. 8 seed SMU (American Champion)
NCAA Stockton Regional – May 16-18; The Reserve at Spanos Park; Stockton, California
No. 10 seed Houston (at-large)
NCAA New Haven Regional – May 16-18; The Course at Yale; New Haven, Connecticut
No. 11 seed UCF (at-large)
NCAA Columbus Regional – May 16-18; OSU Golf Club – Scarlet Course; Columbus, Ohio
No. 6 seed Sam Jean, Cincinnati (at-large)*
*- competing as an individual