TicketsCINCINNATI -- The No. 40 Cincinnati men's golf team is in the Sunshine State as it begins its AAC Championship play Friday in Belleair, Fla.
The Bearcats enter as the highest-ranked team, followed by No. 49 Houston. Memphis, UCF, South Florida and SMU are in the top-100 as well. The three-day event will be held at the Pelican Golf Club.
"We are very excited to start playing postseason golf," head coach Doug Martin said. "We have accomplished some great things this year and still have some goals we want to attain. This year's championship will be the most competitive in all our years in the conference. We have some very talented teams that have been trending positively in the past month. It will be very important for us to be at our best if we want to have a great week."
Sam Jean, Ty Gingerich, Ryan Ford, William McDonald and Rylan Wotherspoon make the lineup, with Wyatt Plattner serving as a substitute. All AAC tournaments have been played in Florida, with the last two years at Brooksville's Southern Hills Plantation Club, as the Bearcats finished fifth in 2022 and third in 2021.
Jean remains the team stroke-average leader at 69.83, but the freshman Ford has truly blossomed this spring with a 70.33 mark (down from 75.18 in the fall). The team's last event, the Mason Rudolph Championship in Tennessee, saw McDonald become the fourth Bearcat to be the team's top finisher.
Gingerich led UC at last year's AACs, tying for 11thΒ while Jean was 16th. Jean also finished second in 2021, which was his career-best finish at the time. His seven top-20 standings this year include his title at September's Bearcat Invitational.
This is also UC's fourth three-day event of the season. It won its first two in East Tennessee and Puerto Rico, while a ninth-place finish in the loaded, aforementioned Mason Rudolph featured score improvements each day.
The Bearcats enter as the highest-ranked team, followed by No. 49 Houston. Memphis, UCF, South Florida and SMU are in the top-100 as well. The three-day event will be held at the Pelican Golf Club.
"We are very excited to start playing postseason golf," head coach Doug Martin said. "We have accomplished some great things this year and still have some goals we want to attain. This year's championship will be the most competitive in all our years in the conference. We have some very talented teams that have been trending positively in the past month. It will be very important for us to be at our best if we want to have a great week."
Sam Jean, Ty Gingerich, Ryan Ford, William McDonald and Rylan Wotherspoon make the lineup, with Wyatt Plattner serving as a substitute. All AAC tournaments have been played in Florida, with the last two years at Brooksville's Southern Hills Plantation Club, as the Bearcats finished fifth in 2022 and third in 2021.
Jean remains the team stroke-average leader at 69.83, but the freshman Ford has truly blossomed this spring with a 70.33 mark (down from 75.18 in the fall). The team's last event, the Mason Rudolph Championship in Tennessee, saw McDonald become the fourth Bearcat to be the team's top finisher.
Gingerich led UC at last year's AACs, tying for 11thΒ while Jean was 16th. Jean also finished second in 2021, which was his career-best finish at the time. His seven top-20 standings this year include his title at September's Bearcat Invitational.
This is also UC's fourth three-day event of the season. It won its first two in East Tennessee and Puerto Rico, while a ninth-place finish in the loaded, aforementioned Mason Rudolph featured score improvements each day.
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β Cincinnati M-Golf (@GoBearcatsMGOLF) April 21, 2023