No. 4 USC battled in three match play rounds Saturday and Sunday before the final round of the Therese Hession Regional Challenge tournament was officially suspended due to inclement weather Monday. The Trojans are leading a strong charge into their spring campaign, which will culminate in April for the Pac-12 Women’s Golf Championships and in May for the NCAA Division I women’s golf championship.

The tournament was initially supposed to begin Sunday, but the weather moved the start date to Saturday and the event was altered to a match play format. USC began the tournament  Saturday morning with its first match against Ohio State, winning 3-1-1. The three individual matches USC won were by freshman Bailey Shoemaker, senior Christine Wang and junior Amari Avery.

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“I’m proud of the way we adjusted on the fly and performed pretty well. We shot some good scores in those matches,” said Head Coach Justin Silverstein in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “I was proud and Tiffany, our associate head coach, was proud of the way we adjusted on the fly and were able to play some good golf early on Saturday.”

Later in the day Saturday, USC faced No. 8 Texas in a tense match. Although Texas was leading in the scoring, the match never finished due to suspended play for darkness. Shoemaker was only one down in her match when her short putt to force a tie was halted. 

“We came out of that one a little frustrated with things that were a little beyond our control,” Silverstein said. “But we’re pretty happy with the way we played because Texas is a really good team.” 

Despite these setbacks, the two standout freshman players, Shoemaker and Frances Kim, were both key contributors in their respective matches. 

“They’ve developed really nicely since I’ve been here,” Silverstein said. “Having both of them in the lineup was nice.”

The highly anticipated match Sunday was against the Trojans’ crosstown rival No. 5 UCLA. After a hard-fought match, USC ended up victorious in a 2-2-1 victory, which was ultimately decided by the team that had won the most holes. Led by Shoemaker’s impressive 6&4 victory against UCLA’s Alessia Nobilio, the Trojans were able to clinch the win. 

In addition to the success of the starting lineup, the talented senior Brianna Navarrosa also crafted an impressive display. Not only did she find success in her matches, but she also shot the lowest score to par on the team.

“She needs to be mentioned as well for having a great week,” Silverstein said. “That’s going to help elevate her early spring resume.”

USC has itself a very talented team that is continuing to build momentum after its fantastic postseason efforts last year. 

“We think we’re deep enough and strong enough of a roster where any five we roll out are strong enough to win any tournament we play. What we’re focused on is just trying to get better every day,” Silverstein said. “If we do that, now through the end of May, I think we’re gonna be in a good spot for Pac-12 regionals and nationals.”

The Trojans will tee up in the Pac-12 Preview on the Big Island of Hawaii Feb. 19-21.