ECU Travels South For AAC Championship

BELLEAIR, Fla. – The East Carolina men's golf team is set to compete in the 2023 American Athletic Conference Championships, April 21-23, at the Pelican Golf Club (par-70, 6,881 yards). ECU, who is seeded No. 7, will tee off with No. 8 Wichita State and No. 9 Temple starting from the first hole between 8-8:52 a.m. (ET).

The championship will feature three rounds of stroke play among nine teams and 45 players with the winner receiving the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.

The American has four teams featured in the GolfStat Top 75 in Cincinnati (40), Houston (49), UCF (71) and SMU (73). Also scheduled for participation are Memphis (80), South Florida (87), East Carolina (149), Wichita State (171) and Temple (208).

Competing for ECU will be freshman Lucas Augustsson (No. 1), graduate student Nicolas Brown (No. 2), sophomore Carter Busse (No. 3), freshman Philip Linberg Bondestad (No. 4) and sophomore Tyler DeChellis (No. 5). Graduate student Stuart Fuller will be the Pirates' designated substitute.

Augustsson, who owns a team-best 73.15 stoke average, enters the event having won a pair of events in his last three outings. The Halmstad, Sweden native took medalist honors at the ECU Intercollegiate and the Cutter Creek Intercollegiate shooting a personal-best score of 213 on both occasions. Augustsson was named AAC Golfer of the Week on March 22 and became the golfer to win a pair of events in the same season since Tom Conover during the 2016-17 campaign.

Brown has appeared in 10 events on the season and stands second on the squad with a 74.13 stroke average. He claimed a share of sixth place, his lone Top 10 of the year, at the Ironwood Collegiate Classic after posting a 1-under par 215. During his first year in the Pirate program, Bondestad owns a 74.79 stroke average (fourth on team) and has participated in all 11 events. He registered his highest finish of the season at the Ironwood Collegiate Classic finishing tied for second with a 3-under par 213. At the Cutter Creek Intercollegiate, Bondestad claimed a share of 14th following a 54-hole score of 222.

DeChellis, who owns a 74.88 average, posted his second career Top 10 finish at the Cutter Creek Intercollegiate sharing ninth place following a 4-over par 220. On the year, he has six rounds of 71 or better including a career-low round of 68 during first round action at the General Hackler Intercollegiate. Fuller has registered three Top 20 placements during his initial year with the program which includes a share of 11th at the River Run Collegiate (217). He has also placed in the Top 20 at the Ironwood Collegiate Classic (t13) and ECU Intercollegiate (t16), while posting six rounds of 72 or better for a 75.33 stroke average.

A year ago, the Pirates finished ninth in the AAC Championships with a score of 880 (16-over par). Brown finished tied for 30th with a score of (221/5-over) while Busse placed 38th (227/11-over). Pirate fans can follow all the live action on Golfstat.com and are able to watch final round coverage on ESPN+.

Players Mentioned

Lucas Augustsson

Philip Linberg Bondestad

Nicolas Brown

Carter Busse

Tyler DeChellis

Stuart Fuller

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