Trojans take second place in season debut
The USC men’s golf team started its season on a strong note by placing second after three rounds of the season-opening Southwestern Intercollegiate tournament at the North Ranch C.C. in Westlake Village, California. The Trojans jumped up to second place on Tuesday after finishing in third on Monday.
After eight consecutive trips to the NCAA Championships, the Trojans combined for a two-round 8-over 580 after Monday, leaving them only eight strokes behind first-place Stanford and two strokes behind second-place Washington State. San Diego State and Pepperdine rounded out the top five, respectively.
Other competitors at the tournament included Arizona, Loyola Marymount, San Diego, UC Davis, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge and Hartford.
By the end of Tuesday, the Trojans had improved their placement and finished at 11-over 863, jumping Washington State in the placement. Perennial powerhouse Stanford remained in first place and won the tournament with a 4-under 848.
“Stanford looks to be solid once again,” said head coach Chris Zambri. “We’ll need more great play from everyone in the lineup if we are to beat them the next time we see them.”
The USC team was led by freshman Sean Crocker who, in making his collegiate debut, shot a 54-hole 5-under 208, which was enough to tie him for second overall in the event.
“Although we don’t like finishing second, there were a lot of positives this week,” Zambri said. “The play of Sean Crocker would be the first to mention. He put up three solid rounds for us.”
On his way to his second-place standing, Crocker shot seven birdies in his first round and finished the final ten holes of his second round at 2-under before shooting a 3-under in the final round of the tournament.
Crocker, who was born in Zimbabwe, comes to USC with a lot of experience under his belt, having competed in the California State Amateur each of the past two years.
His success at the course this week might be partially attributed to the fact that he moved to Westlake Village when he was young and attended high school there.
While Crocker placed second in the individual draw, 2014 All-American Rico Hoey began his sophomore campaign by tying for 16th at 6-over 219.
His first round of the tournament included three birdies and he followed up that performance by shooting four birdies the next round. Hoey looks to improve upon his freshman year when he had one of the most successful seasons in Trojan golf history. Hoey’s 71.36 was the best stroke average on the team. He also led USC in top 10 finishes (eight), rounds in the 60s (16), birdies (165) and eagles (eight).
His accomplishments earned him the 2014 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year award.
Crocker and Hoey were not alone on the leaderboard, as fellow Trojan freshman Jonah Texeira tied for 26th overall in his career debut. Texeira birdied 10 through 13 en route to a 1-under back 9 to close the night in the second round.
Senior Eric Sugimoto also had a strong showing at the tournament and finished tied for ninth by the end of the third round. He shot a final round 3-under 68 which vaulted him 17 spots in the rankings, prompting his coach to praise his efforts.
“Eric Sugimoto played a nice final round and showed that this year could be a big one for him,” Zambri said.
Next up for the Trojans is the Itani Homes Collegiate in Pullman, Washington from Sept. 29-30.