After dominant performances in both of their opening tournaments, men’s and women’s golf continued their successful starts to the season in late September, picking up top-three finishes at their respective meets. 

Men’s golf tied for third at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate on Sept. 19–20, followed by a first-place finish at the Trinity Forest Invitational on Oct. 5–7. Meanwhile, women’s golf notched its first tournament win of the year at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic on Sept. 21–24, led by record-breaking performances from sophomores Kylie Chong and Jasmine Koo. 

“I think that the golf course fit us really well, and they did a good job kind of understanding the golf course, and we learned it more each day in our course meetings,” women’s golf Head Coach Justin Silverstein said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “Each morning, you could tell they were just more comfortable with lines off tees and lines in the greens.”

Men’s golf shines in New Mexico and Texas

Following a season-opening tournament win at the Whirlwind Invitational, the men’s golf team traveled to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, taking home a third place finish. 

The Trojans have had their best start to a season since 2014, when they also started with two top-three performances. They saw a substantial improvement from last year’s Tucker Intercollegiate, where they finished in 11th, shooting 23 over par; this year, the Trojans finished shooting 17 under par. 

Junior Nicolas Dominguez had the highest finish of his career, landing in fourth place out of 100 players. He shot 7 under par overall, including a final round of 2 under 70 to secure his stellar placement. 

Senior Antonio Safa shot 5 under par overall, finishing 11th, while sophomore Jaden Dumdumaya finished in 15th at 4 under par. Senior Luke Stock and sophomore Jack Buchanan tied for 27th at 1 over par, with Buchanan making an 11-stroke improvement from last year’s tournament. 

In its return to Dallas at the Trinity Forest Invitational, USC continued its hot streak with a first-place finish, tying with Rice University for its second of the season. 

Dumdumaya led the Trojans with his third-place finish, shooting 13 under par. His 63 was the second-lowest round in USC history and the lowest by a Trojan since 2022. Dominguez finished 12th, and Buchanan placed 18th, shooting 4 under overall. 

Overall, the Trojans placed in the top four for par 3s, par 4s and par 5s, along with shooting two eagles. 

Next up, USC will travel to Alpharetta, Georgia, to compete in the GC of Georgia Intercollegiate from Oct. 24–26 to conclude the fall season. 

Women’s golf shatters records in Colorado 

Women’s golf traveled to Wolcott, Colorado, for the Golfweek Red Sky Classic, picking up its first win of the season in its second tournament. All five Trojans placed in the top 20, with every golfer shooting under par. 

USC shot 45 under par, shattering the previous tournament record of 32 under set by UCLA in 2018. The Trojans also broke their previous team score record of 39 under par, set at the Icon Invitational in 2022.  

“It was just a perfect storm, a good golf course that fit us with soft greens,” Silverstein said. “I’m really happy for the team that they get their names in that record book, because that is a pretty serious and tough record to break.” 

Chong and Koo tied the overall tournament record set by UCLA’s Mariel Galdiano in 2018, each shooting 13-under par to share first place. Chong’s stellar performance earned her her first tournament win of her career, and both Chong and Koo were named Big Ten Golfers of the Week. 

Senior Catherine Park shot 8 under par on Wednesday for the lowest round in school history and shot 3 under par overall to secure her 16th-place finish. 

Freshman Sarah Hammet made an impressive recovery after placing 58 out of 60 golfers at the season-opening ANNIKA Intercollegiate, finishing just outside the top ten in 11th out of 100 to earn Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors. 

“For [Hammet] to bounce back, and put the work in in between events and get back out there and dust herself off, I think showed a lot about who she is as a person and a golfer,” Silverstein said. 

In her second tournament with USC, sophomore Elise Lee finished in seventh place, shooting 8 under par. Lee shot under par in almost every single hole in the final round, except for four rounds where she shot at par. 

“We got a big test coming up next,” Silverstein said. “Stanford’s kind of the premier collegiate golf course that we play all season. That’s a big event against our biggest rival. The work has already started to get ready for that one.” 

The Trojans will travel to Stanford for the Stanford Intercollegiate on Oct. 17–19.