Men’s golf readies for conference tournament

The No. 21 USC men’s golf team swings into the postseason this weekend as the Pac-10 championship kicks off at the Stanford Golf Course.

All the teams in the Pac-10 will be in attendance this Friday through Sunday.

“There will be a lot of good teams at the tournament this weekend, and the competition should be great,” said sophomore Martin Trainer. “Despite that, we are really just worried with our own success.”

The team is coming off three consecutive top-three finishes, first place at the Thunderbird Invitational with a 15-under-par 837 (287, 271, 279), second place at the Western Intercollegiate and third place at Callaway Collegiate Match Play. The team finished its regular season strong and hopes to ride that momentum into the postseason.

Starting Friday at 8 a.m., the team will play 36 holes on the par 70 course and 18 holes both Saturday and Sunday. USC holds the record for most Pac-10 tournament wins with 18, as well as 20 individual champions.

The Trojans will be led by sophomore T.J. Vogel and junior Steve Lim, with Trainer, freshman Ramsey Sahyoun, freshman Jeffrey Kang and sophomore Sam Smith rounding out the squad. All six golfers have had very strong seasons, and USC’s team is one of the best in the field.

“We have the deepest team, and that’s one of our strong points. Our sixth man is easily the best out there,” Trainer said. “We have so much talent, I feel like we can do great. We just have to prepare well and when the time comes, play our best.”

Following their recent success and the strength of the squad, the Trojans hope to continue their trend of winning and make a strong showing at the tournament.

“I think we have a really good chance to win. We have been playing really well lately,” Trainer said. “So have UCLA and even Stanford, but not as strong as we have.”