Men’s golf sees highest finish in program history


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No. 13 USC men’s golf was the runner-up on June 3rd at the NCAA Championship Match Play final at the Concession Golf Course in Bradenton, Florida, falling 4-1 to No. 9 LSU. This was a program-best finish for the Trojans. They had previously finished in third place seven times.

The Trojans have not advanced to the match play bracket since 2009 — its previous lone appearance, which was a quarterfinal loss to Michigan. USC had not won a match play since this format was introduced in 2009.

To get to the championship match, the Trojans qualified for the match play after finishing fifth following 72 holes of stroke play.

In the semifinal, USC completed one of its best days in program history after edging out No. 4 Illinois                3-1-1. Impressive finishes from senior Eric Sugimoto, Rico Hoey and Bobby Gojuangco lead the Trojans to the upset victory over the top-seeded Illinois.

“We had an up-and-down season, but the talent was there,” Sugimoto said. “The flashes of brilliance were just everywhere, everywhere you look.”

In the championship, falling 4-1 to LSU, Sugimoto earned the Trojans’ only point in the match.

“It’s been a great week, I’m proud of the guys,” Sugimoto said. “It’s been a really great experience, something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

With Sugimoto as the lone senior on the roster, ninth-year head coach Chris Zambri was pleased with his performance at the NCAA Championships.

“[Sugimoto’s] going to leave college golf with his head super high because he was phenomenal this week for us,” Zambri said. “He came through on the four biggest days of the year.”

Zambri was both “bummed” and proud about the program’s runner-up finish.

“Yeah, second place is way better than third and everything after it,” Zambri said. “But, it’s tough to get into this position, so when you get here, you want to get it done.”

The last time Zambri got this close to winning the title was back in 2008, when USC finished third by two strokes the year before the match play bracket was instituted.

After leading the Trojans to their best-ever finish at the NCAA Championships, Zambri was named the 2015 Golf Coaches Association of America West Region Coach of the Year. He has led the Trojans to the NCAA Championships every year as a head coach.

This was the second GCAA Region of the Year honor for Zambri, the previous in 2008.

This season, the Trojans won three tournaments among eight top-three finishes. Crocker earned      Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors, was named to the All-Pac-12 first team and earned PING All-West Region honors. Hoey also earned All-Pac-12 first team honors and PING All-West Region honors with stellar play this season.