TicketsCINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati men's golf team competes in the American Championship beginning Sunday at the Innisbrook Golf & Spa Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida.
The three-day, 54-hole event will be played on the Copperhead Course. Tee times each day begin at 7:30 a.m. ET. Live scoring is available at GolfStat.com. The American Digital Network will provide live coverage of Tuesday's final round beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET.
Cincinnati is seeded sixth in the 10-team event. Junior Austin Squires leads the Bearcats with a 71.86 stroke average. He has posted seven Top 25 finishes in 2017-18, including in each of the last five tournaments. He claimed medalist honors at the Firestone Invitational in October. Sophomore Jake Fox owns a 73.72 stroke average with four Top 25 finishes this year.
Squires, the 2017 AAC Player of The Year, helped the Bearcats tie for second place at the event last year, the program's best conference tournament finish since winning back-to-back Great Midwest Conference titles in 1993 and 1994. UC posted a 20-over 872 tying Houston (20-over 872) for second place, 15 strokes behind tournament winner USF (5-over 857). Squires tied for fifth at 1-over 214 while Fox tied for ninth at 5-over 218.
// QUOTING COACH DOUG MARTIN
On preparation for the tournament:
"It's hard to believe the conference championship is upon us. The spring season has gone by very quickly. We have done some very good things this spring. I am extremely proud of this group's effort.
"We must have a very clean week if we expect to have a good finish. We have worked very hard at eliminating unforced errors along with capitalizing on well executed shots. Innisbrook is a championship venue and will offer a great challenge to our team."
// AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Dates: April 22-24
Course: Innisbrook Golf & Spa Resort, Copperhead Course, Palm Harbor, Fla.
Par: 71
Yardage: 7,209
Format: Play 5, count 4
Schedule of Play: 54 total holes; 18 holes each day
Sunday, April 22 -- Round 1 (Seeds 1-6: Start from hole No. 1 at 7:30 a.m. ET; Seeds 7-10: Start from hole No. 10 at 7:34 a.m. ET)
Monday, April 23 -- Round 2 (Tee times will be the same as Round 1, with seeds determined based on scores.)
Tuesday, April 24 -- Round 3 (Tee times will be the same as Round 1, with seeds determined based on scores.)
// THE TOURNAMENT FIELD
The tournament field features 10 teams (listed in order of seeding):
1 – USF (Golfstat Rank #21)
2 – Houston (Golfstat Rank #58)
3 – UCF (Golfstat Rank #59)
4 – ECU (Golfstat Rank #72)
5 – SMU (Golfstat Rank #86)
6 – Cincinnati (Golfstat Rank #102)
7 – Memphis (Golfstat Rank #119)
8 – UConn (Golfstat Rank #130)
9 – Wichita State (Golfstat Rank #198)
10 – Temple (Golfstat Rank #213)
// THE COPPERHEAD COURSE
A favorite among PGA TOUR professionals, our Copperhead Course is the most recognizable of Innisbrook's four Tampa, Florida courses. After all, it plays host to the world's greatest golfers during the PGA TOUR's annual visit to the resort for the Valspar Championship Presented by BB&T. Tree-lined fairways and rolling terrain define the course -- a lengthy challenge for even the longest hitters at more than 7,200 yards. Striking in beauty and challenge, the surrounding lakes and ponds are home to abundant wildlife, including fox squirrels, bald eagles, alligators, blue herons, and many other types of water fowl. With the fairways and greens mostly free of residences, Copperhead provides the opportunity to enjoy golf the way nature intended.
// CINCINNATI'S LINEUP
No. 1 – Austin Squires – Jr., Union, Ky./Ryle High School
No. 2 – Jake Fox – Soph., Cincinnati, Ohio/Moeller High School
No. 3 – Nicolas Osterburg – Fr., Indianapolis, Ind./Perry Meridian High School
No. 4 – Davis Baxter – Sr., Nolsenville, Tenn./Ravenwood High School
No. 5 – Andy Mayhew – R-Fr., Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood High School