Trojans fall to eighth on day two at Gifford tourney


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A poor finish on the second day has the No. 12 USC men’s golf team sitting in eighth place at the Gifford Collegiate Championship in San Martin, Calif.

The Trojans are at 5-under par for the tournament, 11 strokes behind No. 2 Stanford.

USC entered day two of competition in fourth place and rose to as high as second before coming unglued down the stretch. The Trojans registered four double bogeys and a pair of triple bogeys on the back nine and saw their score for the day swell from 6-under par to 2-over.

Stanford parlayed a strong second round into a lead entering the final day. The Cardinal shot 10-under par on Tuesday and hold a one-stroke advantage over No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 36 Duke.

Sophomore Steve Lim shot 3-under on Tuesday and moved into a tie for seventh place on the individual leaderboard. Junior Daniel Park and freshmen Sam Smith and Martin Trainer are tied for 37th at 1-over par.

One thing that has tested the depth of the Trojans is the unusual scoring format the tournament employs. Six players compete for each school with the five low scores for each round counting, a departure from the typical format of five players and four scores counting.

The format has been particularly difficult for the team to adjust to with the absence of returning All-American junior Matthew Giles, who is taking part in a tournament in Australia.

Freshman T.J. Vogel and junior Bo DeHuff are tied for 43rd and 52nd, respectively.