Trojan golf teams compete in early fall tournaments


USC’s men’s golf team finished in a tie for first place with Oregon at the Itani Collegiate in Pullman, Washington, on Tuesday. To determine a winner of the tournament, the teams engaged in a playoff, where the Ducks reigned supreme after one hole. The Trojans finished at 6-under par for a final round score of 834 (273-270-291).

Sophomore Rico Hoey finished the tournament in third place with a final score of 5-under 205 while junior Bobby Gojuangco and freshman Jonah Texeira finished tied for 10th with a score of 1-under 209. Freshman Sean Crocker moved up 13 spots on the final day to finish in a tie for 19th place with a score of 1-over 211.

Some highlights from the first rounds of the tournament on the men’s side included sophomore Rico Hoey tying for first overall with Oregon’s Aaron Wise with a 9-under 131. Hoey had 10 birdies and only one bogey in the first two rounds. Gojuangco finished the second round tied with Texeira for ninth. Seniors Eric Sugimoto and Paul Smith ended Monday in 48th and 26th respectively; Sugimoto was 3-over while Smith was 1-under.

The Women of Troy, meanwhile, completed the ANNIKA Intercollegiate Tournament in Orlando, Florida. The team finished in sixth place with a three-round combined score of 5-over 869 (287-291-291). They finished behind a top five which consisted of South Carolina, Arizona, Oklahoma State, Stanford and Duke respectively. Sophomore Karen Chung and senior Doris Chen tied for 11th after the final round with a score of 1-under 215. Sophomore transfer Elizabeth Doty tied for 25th with a score of 3-over 219 for the tournament.

Both teams also had impressive opening two rounds of their respective tournaments. After 36 holes, the men’s team was in second place with a combined score of 17-under 543 (273-270). This left them trailing Oregon by two but one ahead of host Washington State and seven ahead of both California and Arizona State.

The Women of Troy finished their second round in fourth place with a combined 2-over 578 (287-291). In a crowded field, the women’s team trailed first-place South Carolina by six, Arizona by five and Northwestern by three. Oklahoma, Stanford and defending NCAA champion Duke all finished the second round tied for fifth, one back of USC.

Chen ended the second round tied for fourth at 2-under 142, finishing the round with a consistent 10 pars in a row. Chung was in 12th after Monday with an even 144. Junior walk-on Victoria Morgan had the flashiest shot of the day when she hit her first career hole-in-one on the par 3 seventh hole. Morgan called it “the shot of her life.”

Despite a few impressive shots, USC’s women’s team finished the tournament in the middle of the pack. Though the Women of Troy seem to have fallen off from when they won a school-record eight events last season. But head coach Andrea Gaston remains optimistic.

“[T]his was a nice oportunity to see some of the depth on our team,” Gaston said. “This was also our first tournament of the season. Obviously we would have liked to have finished better, but since most of our players haven’t competed for almost two months, we are pleased that all players contributed to the team score.”