Men’s and women’s golf compete at East Lake Cup
Beating Baylor · Junior Karen Chung has shot for par through 17 holes against Baylor. The Women of Troy lead the semifinal match 4-1. – Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information
The No. 1 women’s golf team leads Baylor 2-1-2 at the East Lake Cup after one day of play in Atlanta, Georgia. The No. 3 men’s team is trailing Illinois 4-1. Monday’s semifinal matches were shortened due to rain and are scheduled to resume at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday with the finals slated for 10 a.m.
If the Women of Troy are able to close out their lead against Baylor to advance to the finals, they will face the winner of the matchup between Duke and Stanford. Duke currently leads Stanford 4-1. A loss will place the women in the loser’s bracket.
Should the men come from behind to beat Illinois, they will face the winner of the semifinal match between Georgia and LSU. The Bulldogs only need to close out a 4-1 lead tomorrow morning to advance.
“We certainly could be in better shape at this point in our matches,” men’s coach Chris Zambri said. “That being said, there is no reason why we can’t prevail tomorrow with some good golf on the back nine. I like where we stand.”
The men’s team is losing by one hole in four of its five matches. Sophomore Jonah Texeira maintains a par through 16 holes. Freshman Justin Suh and junior Rico Hoey trail by 1 through 13 holes. Senior Andrew Levitt also trails his Illinois opponent by one hole through 10 holes. Through nine holes, junior Sean Crocker is the fourth Trojan trailing by one.
On the women’s side, senior Kyung Kim gave the Women of Troy a win with a 6 and 4 win over Baylor. Freshman Robynn Ree is leading her opponent by three through 13 holes. She was the Women of Troy’s top finisher in two of their three events. Juniors Karen Chung and Tiffany Chan shot for par. Junior Gabriella Then trails her Bear opponent by one through 11 holes.
“It’s definitely a dog fight,” USC women’s coach Andrea Gaston said. “I don’t think you can ever predict the outcome of match play. It’s great to see Karen and Tiffany get their matches back to even on their last hole tonight. We hope we can finish strong in the morning.”
The Golf Channel will broadcast the final round of the men’s competition live. This is the last competition of the year for both teams. The men do not compete again until the Amer Ari Invitational in Waikoloa, Hawaii, on Feb. 4 while the women play again on Feb. 7 at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes.