SMU Set For AAC Championship at Innisbrook

American Athletic Conference Championship
Innisbrook Golf Club – Copperhead Course // Palm Harbor, Fla.
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The SMU men's golf team travels to Palm Harbor, Fla., to compete for the American Athletic Conference Championship and automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship. The three-day event, which runs April 22-24, will be played on the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club Copperhead Course.

THE EVENT: The American Athletic Conference Championship will span three days and feature 54 holes of stroke play on the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club. Ten teams will vie for the title and automatic bid into the NCAA golf tournament.

THE FIELD, TEE TIMES AND SEEDINGS: Teams seeded 1-6 will tee off from hole No. 1 beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET/6:30 CT from the first tee. Teams seeded 7-10 will tee off from No. 10 beginning at 7:34 a.m. ET/6:34 CT on Sunday. Tee times will be the same on Monday and Tuesday, with the teams to be determined based on scores.

No. 1 – USF                    No. 2 – Houston
No. 3 – UCF                    No. 4 – ECU
No. 5 – SMU                   No. 6 – Cincinnati
No. 7 – Memphis            No. 8 – UConn
No. 9 – Wichita State     No. 10 – Temple

THE COURSE: The 7,125-yard Copperhead course at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club will play at par-71. The Copperhead course 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.

COVERAGE:All three days of the championship can be followed via Golfstat, while the final round of the championship will also feature coverage on the American Digital Network beginning at 11:30 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT.

REPRESENTING SMU: Competing for the Mustangs will be Noah Goodwin, McClure Meissner, Gray Townsend,Jackson MarkhamandDaniel Connolly.

Name	Tournaments	Rounds	Average Score
Meissner	9	27	71.89
Markham	8	24	73.46
Townsend	8	24	73.63
Goodwin	3	9	72.67
Connolly	8	24	75.04

SMU AT THE AAC CHAMPIONSHIP: The Mustangs look to build on to their AAC Championship success, having finished in the top-two twice. In 2014, SMU (+6, 287-286-285—858) won the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship on the Copperhead Course by five strokes over UCF (+11, 283-289-291—863), and Bryson DeChambeau won the individual title at 7-under-par (70-68-68—206). The league title was SMU's first since winning three straight from 2004-06. At the 2015 tournament, the Mustangs earned runner-up honors following a record-setting 15-under-par performance in the final round of play. DeChambeau finished second on the individual leaderboard following a tournament record 8-under-par 64 on day three. After not competing in the 2016 AAC Tournament as a result of a post-season ban, Gray Townsend's 68 in the final round lifted him into a tie for third, one shot out of a playoff. The Mustangs finished tied for sixth.

SMU ALL-TIME IN CONFERENCE TOURNAMENTS: SMU has won nine conference titles in the program's history - five as a member of the Southwest Conference (1931, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1988), two in the WAC (2004, 2005), one in the Conference USA (2006) and one in the American Athletic Conference (2014). SMU won three straight titles from 2004-06, and three of four from 1953-56. SMU has had 12 individual conference champions, with Bryson DeChambeau recording the most recent victory in 2014. Others who have won conference titles include: Will Dodson (2005, WAC) and (2006, C-USA), Hank Kuenhe (1996, SWC) and Payne Stewart (1979, SWC). The Mustangs had four conference champions in the 1930s and three in the 1950s.

LAST TIME ON THE GREEN: SALEM, S.C. (SMU) – Daniel Connolly posted the best result of his young SMU career by finishing tied for ninth at the Clemson Invitational. Three Mustangs finished in the top 15 as the SMU finished fifth place.Connolly carded a 3-over 75 in the third round of play to finish the tournament with a three-day 219 (74-70-75). The San Francisco, native, finished the tournament with nine birdies.Senior Gray Townsend shot an even-par 72 in the final round to climb six positions on the leaderboard and finish tied for 11th (76-72-72—220) at 4-over par. Townsend has now finished in the top-15 three times this season.Freshman McClure Meissner joined Townsend in the top-15 at 5-over (T15, 73-72-76—221). The San Antonio, Texas, native finished the event with 11 birdies. Meissner picked up his fourth top-20 finish this season, and has now finished in the top-25 in six of nine events this year.

Noah Goodwin – 2018 SPRING ADDITION: Amateur-standout Noah Goodwin joins the SMU golf team this spring after graduating early from Laurel Springs School. Goodwin completed a stellar junior career by being named Rolex Junior Player of the Year in 2017. He is the fifth male in AJGA history to earn the title in consecutive years. The highlight of his junior career was winning the 2017 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship. He is one of only three players to win the championship after losing in the final the year before. He represented the United States team in the 2017 Junior Presidents Cup and 2016 Junior Ryder Cup.
World Amateur Ranking: No. 14
AJGA (before SMU): No. 1

FRESHMAN ON TOP: McClure Meissner, the 12th-ranked freshman golfer in the nation this year per Golfstat, has a 71.89 scoring average to this point in the year which is the fifth-best in SMU history (since 1993), trailing only Bryson Dechambeau (2014-15, 2013-14), Kelly Kraft (2009-10) and Hank Kuehne (1997-98). Meissner picked up his fourth top-20 finish of the season at the Clemson Invitational. The San Antonio, Texas, native has now finished in the top-30 in eight of nine events this year and in the top-25 in six.

ORANGE YA GLAD?: The SMU men's golf team added orange to its color scheme during the 2017-18 seasonafter head coach Jason Enloe's wife, Katie, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. Along with wearing orange and using #KatieStrong to raise awareness, the team took part in the Lemons For Leukemia challenge to help raise awareness for leukemia as well as encourage others to join the marrow registry at Be The Match. Over the past few weeks, multiple staff members and teams have taken part in the Lemons for Leukemia challenge. Katie has found a bone marrow donor and will undergo the procedure in the upcoming months.

"Lemons for Leukemia is for a great cause and one that hits extremely close to home," Enloe said. "My wife Katie was recently diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia and is currently in treatment at MD Anderson in Houston. Through this struggling time our family wishes to beat Leukemia and to continue raising money and awareness for families less fortunate than ours. Her treatment includes a bone marrow transplant, and this is only possible by awareness of the disease, research, and willing people to "Be The Match". I encourage everyone to join the registry and continue the support for #katiestrongtx."

SMU SIGNS FOUR: SMU men's golf and head coach Jason Enloe announce the addition of four talented players to the 2018 squad as Noah Goodwin, Ben Wong, Charles Osbourne and Tyson Dinsmore signed to compete at SMU.

"Coach Chris Parra and myself are extremely pleased with the 2018 class we have put together for the SMU Men's Golf program," SMU head coach Jason Enloe said. "Years of hard work have finally paid off with one of the nation's top overall classes. We believe that these four players, along with our current players, and future players, will serve SMU well as we strive to be one of the top programs in the country. We are honored that these great golfers and young men have chosen our program to help them reach for their goals both on and off the course."

FULL SIGNEE RELEASE

SMU DEDICATES PAYNE STEWART SMU GOLF TRAINING CENTER: SMU Athletics dedicated the new Payne Stewart SMU Golf Training Center at Trinity Forest Golf Club. The facility, among the finest in college golf, was made possible through the support of generous donors Ann Park Roberts Gibbs '66 and James R. Gibbs '66, '70, '72, Carolyn L. Miller and David B. Miller '72, '73 and the David B. Miller Family Foundation, The Dedman Foundation and family, and the Payne Stewart Family Foundation, Inc. Many additional donors also contributed generously to this initiative. The 6,700-square foot facility features team locker rooms, coaches' offices, a conference room, a workout center and kitchen. The center also houses a hitting bay featuring premier equipment, including the Swing Catalyst, which tracks weight shift throughout the swing as well as four video motion-capture cameras and monitors to show swings. A TrackMan system uses dual radar technology to track both club movement and the ball at the moment of impact. This equipment provides the perfect foundation for analysis, enabling the Mustang golfers to use real-time data to improve their games. The Payne Stewart SMU Golf Training Center also includes 70,000 square feet of teeing ground, a 45,000 square-foot putting and chipping green and a challenging nine-hole short course.

PHOTOS OF THE PAYNE STEWART SMU GOLF TRAINING CENTER AT TRINITY FOREST
MORE ON THE PAYNE STEWART SMU GOLF TRAINING CENTER AT TRINITY FOREST
VIDEO: SMU MUSTANG MINUTE DEDICATION

CONNOLLY BRINGS HARDWARE TO DALLAS (Summer Golf): Sophomore Daniel Connolly shot a 5-under par 208 (68-69-71) to win the Northern California Golf Association (NCGA) Amateur Stroke Play Championship at the Poppy Hills Golf Course. Connolly recorded the low-round and was the only player to break par on the opening day, firing a 3-under par 68. The San Francisco native padded his lead and took a five stroke advantage into the final day after a low-round 69 (-2) in round two. Despite a double bogey early in the final round, Connolly rebounded and shot even par (71) to secure the victory.

TOWNSEND NAMED 2016 AAC ALL-CONFERNECE: SMU men's golfer Gray Townsend was named to the All-American Athletic Conference Team. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native tallied three top-25 finishes, including his first collegiate tournament win. At the Marquette Intercollegiate, the junior carded a career-low tournament score of 207, en route to his first career win. At the American Athletic Conference Championship, Townsend fired an even-par 213 to finish tied for third. Townsend played in all 11 tournaments for the Mustangs and averaged a score of 73.88. He tallied nine rounds at par or better this season, with four in the 60s.

TOWNSEND WINS FIRST COLLEGIATE TOURNAMENT: Senior Gray Townsend fired a 2-under 68 in the final round of the 2016 Marquette Intercollegiate to earn his first collegiate tournament win, and record a career-low tournament score of 207. Townsend finished tied with Ryan Lumsden of Northwestern. In the team competition, the SMU men's golf team carded the tournament's low round, 7-under-par (273) in the final round, to finish in fourth place ( 6,846), and earn its first top five finish of the season. All four counting scorers finished even or sub-par. SMU including Townsend, the Mustangs had five top-25 finishes or better, with three finishing top-10.

BAXTER, BUCHANAN WIN U.S. AMATEUR FOUR-BALL TITLE: SMU's Ben Baxter and former SMU golfer Andrew Buchanan won the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship on May 25 after topping Brandon Cigna and Ben Warnquist, 3-and-2, at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y. All square through 11 in the championship match, Baxter gave the SMU duo its first lead, draining a par putt on the 12th to win the hole. The Mustangs capitalized on a missed putt by Warnquist on the 14th to take a 2-up advantage, before stretching the lead to three with a win on 15. On the 16th hole, Buchanan lagged a birdie putt within two feet of the pin, resulting in a victory conceding par.

SMU U.S. AMATEUR SUCCESS: Since 1998, four Mustangs have won the U.S. Amateur, more than any collegiate program during that span. Bryson DeChambeau won the 2015 U.S. Amateur to become the fourth SMU winner, joining Kelly Kraft (2011), Colt Knost (2007) and Hank Kuehne (1998).

SMU EARNS GCAA ALL-ACADEMIC AWARD: The SMU men's golf team was named a 2016 All-Academic team, as selected by the Golf Coaches Association of America. SMU, which recorded a 3.37 team GPA, is one of 113 Division I teams to earn the honor.

COACHING STAFF: The men's golf team is led by fourth-year head coach Jason Enloe, an SMU alum who golfed for the Mustangs from 1991-1996. Enloe returned to SMU in 2012 as the assistant coach, after a 14-year professional golf career, playing on the PGA/Nationwide Tour, the Canadian Tour, Golden Bear Your and the Adams Tour. He won the Nationwide's Fort Smith Classic in 2009 and the Pete Dye Classic in 2006. He played on the 1997 U.S. World Amateur Team and has twice reached the latter stages of match play at the U.S. Amateur. Assisting Enloe is Chris Parra, a fourth-year assistant coach. Parra played at SMU from 1996-1998, before going pro in 1999. Following his collegiate career, Parra competed professionally for 14 years until 2014. Parra spent most of his professional career on the Web.com Tour where he played 36 events, garnishing one top-10 finish and four top-25 finishes. His best finish came in 2010, where he finished tied for seventh at the Fort Smith Classic. In 2006, Parra made his first PGA Tour appearance in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship, where he made the cut and finished 72nd overall. Later in his professional career, he played in the LatinoAm and the PGA Canada Tour. At the 2013 U.S. Open Local Sectional Qualifying, Parra carded a 70 to finish tied for second.

SMU LAUNCHES STATE-WIDE BRANDING CAMPAIGN: SMU Athletics and SMU are launching a state-wide branding campaign, featuring billboards, train and bus wraps and airport signage. Nearly 20 billboards will go up across Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio and Waco, while Dallas public transportation and Love Field will also get SMU branding.

--SMUMustangs.com--

Schedule

SMU Set For AAC Championship at Innisbrook

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Players Mentioned

Ben Baxter

Andrew Buchanan

Daniel Connolly

Bryson DeChambeau

Noah Goodwin

Jackson Markham

Mac Meissner

Gray Townsend

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Upcoming Event: Men's Golf at William H. Tucker Invitational on Sep 25, 2026

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Completed Event: Men's Golf at Jackson T. Stephens Cup on September 14, 2026 , , 5th of 6

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SMU Set For AAC Championship at Innisbrook

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Players Mentioned

Ben Baxter

Andrew Buchanan

Daniel Connolly

Bryson DeChambeau

Noah Goodwin

Jackson Markham

Mac Meissner

Gray Townsend

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