SAN FRANCISCO — The 2019-20 year was truly a special season for the University of San Francisco men's golf team, despite the shortened season. The Dons accomplished many of the goals they set out to achieve as the program continued to build prominence on the national scene.
 
"This will be a season none of us ever forget," said head coach Jack Kennedy. "When we met in August, we knew we had one of the best teams on paper USF has ever had. During the fall, we experienced a few bumps along the way – my own troubles with handling a deep team, injuries, and some really bad breaks – which I believe made us the team we were when the season was cancelled. We were competing with the nation's best, playing in final groups, and having chances to win as a team and individually. We were pleased with our fall, but not satisfied with anything we had accomplished."
 
USF competed in six tournaments before the NCAA cancelled the remainder of the spring season. In those six tournaments, the Dons had a top-10 finisher in all but one. Moreover, the Dons had a top-five finisher in five of the six tournaments and the second career individual championship for Tim Widing. In the end, the Dons boasted a top-50 ranking in Golfstat and two players ranked in the top-100.  
 
The senior Widing set the tone in 2019-20. Widing played in all six tournaments, and of the 18 rounds he played, he finished with 11 at par or better. Arguably the best golfer in program history, he was only playing better as the season came to an end. Widing laid waste to the field in the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic. He finished all three rounds under par, finishing with an 8-under 208 and recorded a career-best 17 birdies in a 54-hole tournament. Widing surely would have earned First Team all-West Coast Conference honors, becoming the first player in program history to do it in four straight years. He did take home Ping All-West Region honors for the third time in his career.
 
However, Widing was not alone. As a team, the Dons finished the year with 31 rounds at par or better in 2019-20. Of the 92 rounds played by USF, 33% of them finished with a USF player at or under par. Widing led the way with 11, Matthew Anderson and Toby Briggs finished with seven, Soren Lind finished with three, Alex Chin had a pair, and Christoffer Palsson had one.
 
The season began with Anderson capturing fourth at the Carpet Capital Intercollegiate – the first of 10 top-10 finishes by a Don this season. USF finished that tournament in 11th, its only finish outside the top-10 for the remainder of the season. The Dons' strong fall boasted a stroke average of 293.5 and back-to-back second place team finishes at the Maridoe Intercollege and the Oregon State Invitational – both tournaments hosted at courses that were supposed to host NCAA Regionals this spring.
 
Anderson was the Dons' breakout candidate following a tremendous summer that saw him compete at the Royal Canadian Open. He carried that momentum into the fall, capturing three top-10s, including a top-four finish at the Carpet Capital, a second-place finish at the Oregon State Invitational and a sixth-place finish at the Orange Country Collegiate Classic. Anderson ended the year with a 72.5 stroke average which was second on the team. He also carded 49 birdies and finished with seven rounds at par or better – all topping his output from his strong freshman campaign. His strong play earned him a No. 88 ranking in Golfstat's final ranking.
 
"Going into the spring season, we made more of a commitment to competing and playing more in practice and only taking a mentality of winning tournaments when we went on the road," said Kennedy, discussing the Dons' change in philosophy in the second half of the season. "It was incredibly special watching all five guys pull off big-time shots when it counted on the back nine during our win at Fullerton. And then two weeks later, finding ourselves with the 36-hole lead in one of the best collegiate fields at San Diego State, and having Tim pull off the individual win, had me thinking the sky was the limit for us."
 
The Dons opened the fall with a team championship at the Orange County Collegiate Classic. The Dons led the tournament all three days, but the final round was special. The Dons carded five eagles, two aces, and a miraculous finish on the 18th to take home the first team title since the Redhawk Invitational in 2018. Four of the five Dons who played in that tournament finished in the top-10. USF finished with 45 birdies and six eagles in the tournament – none bigger than Widing's eagle on 18 after he sank a 16-foot putt to preserve the Dons' win.
 
The Dons' strong spring continued with the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic. Widing finished in first, but he was not alone in the top-10. Lind finished tied for fifth, having his strongest performance of the season. As a whole, the Dons were better as a team in the spring, finishing with a stroke average of 289.9 – almost four full strokes better than they shot in the fall. Sadly, the sixth-place finish by the Dons was where the season ended.
 
"The cancellation of the season was surely a disappointment, but we understand the importance of the decisions being made," reflected Kennedy. "We are excited for the future and hope everyone stays safe and healthy until we can start again next year."
 
With the NCAA's decision to grant an extra year of eligibility to all seniors who had their spring season cut short, the Dons will be loaded in 2020-21. USF will return its core group of Widing, Briggs, Chin, Lind, Anderson and Palsson.
 
The experienced core will be joined by incoming freshman Viktor Hagborg Asp, who signed an NLI for the 2020 season.