The fall golf season went about as well as it could have for USC’s men’s and women’s teams. Each squad competed in four autumn tournaments and placed in the top three in all of them, highlighted by wins in the Whirlwind Invitational and Trinity Invitational for the men and the Golfweek Red Sky Classic for the women.

The spring season, however, has yet to grant the Trojans the same level of success.

The men’s team struggled in its first two tournaments of the new year, losing both of its matches in the Copper Cup before tying for fifth at the Southwestern Invitational. Meanwhile, the women’s team managed to grab a win over crosstown rival UCLA in the Battle of LA, but settled for a sixth-place finish at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge.

Nevertheless, both squads saw plenty of individual success from their star players — success they hope to continue as they enter the bulk of spring tournament play before NCAAs in May.

Women take home Battle of LA crown 

The No. 2 women’s team kicked off its spring season at the Battle of LA, a match-play event against the No. 11 Bruins. USC  won its last two one-on-one events with UCLA, including a dominant victory at the 2025 Battle for the Bell, momentum it carried into the Jan. 23 contest.

While junior Bailey Shoemaker was no match for Bruin freshman GaEun Athena Yoo, taking a 5&4 loss, the rest of the Trojans were much more successful in their respective matches. In a battle of each team’s top-ranked players, USC’s No. 21 sophomore Elise Lee took down UCLA’s No. 22 sophomore Jenny Lee, 4&3, getting the Trojans on the board.

Freshman Sarah Hammett followed up with a 2&1 win over sophomore Maye Huang, sneaking past the No. 75-ranked Bruin, and No. 55 sophomore Kylie Chong triumphed over junior Jennifer Seo to seal the team victory for USC. No. 35 senior Catherine Park and freshman Kacey Ly found themselves tied after 18 holes, putting the event’s final score at 3.5-1.5.

The following weekend, the Trojans traveled to Palos Verdes for the Therese Hession Regional Challenge, a three-day tournament featuring 16 teams from across the country. USC struggled heavily in the first round Sunday, shooting a combined 19 over to tie for 14th, but improved significantly over the next two rounds to finish in a sixth-place tie with No. 19 South Carolina.

Shoemaker made up for her lackluster Battle of LA performance, leading the Trojans with a 2-over 215 for a 12th-place finish overall. Lee and Chong were close behind, shooting 4- and 5-over, respectively, to both place in the top 25.

Despite failing to secure a podium finish for the first time this season, USC still found itself ranked as the No. 2 team in the country in Wednesday’s rankings, behind only No. 1 Stanford. The Trojans also have three golfers ranked in the top 50 — Lee, No. 29 sophomore Jasmine Koo and Park — while Chong just missed the cut at No. 55.

USC will be back in action this weekend for the Alice and John Wallace Classic, a 21-team tournament hosted in Palm Desert from Saturday through Monday.

Dumdumaya. Dominguez highlights for men’s team

Like the women’s squad, the No. 27 Trojan men started their spring campaign with a bout against the Bruins, this time as one of two matches at the Copper Cup on Jan. 19. Unlike the women, however, the men were unsuccessful against their rivals.

USC fell behind fast after suffering sweeps in the alt-shot matches, in which two partners alternate between each stroke, handing UCLA an early 3-0 lead. While the Trojans notched a few wins in the individual matchups via senior Antonio Safa, No. 88 sophomore Jaden Dumdumaya and junior Nicolas Dominguez, they were unable to narrow the gap, taking a 7.5-3.5 loss.

That loss set up a consolation match against No. 7 Arizona State the following day, in which USC fared even worse against one of the top teams in the country. Sophomore Kai Komulainen and Dominguez teamed up for an alt shot victory, while Dumdumaya recorded his second win of the weekend against No. 23 junior Michael Mjaaseth, but the Trojans were otherwise shut out in an 8.5-2.5 defeat.

USC set out to improve upon its disappointing Copper Cup performance at the three-day Southwestern Invitational the following week. After ending the first round in seventh place, the Trojans put on a stellar show in the second round, combining at 8 under to move up to second, but they came back down to Earth on the final day for a fifth-place finish.

Dominguez had a consistent performance throughout the tournament, shooting within one stroke of par all three days to finish in ninth overall at even par, one of just 10 golfers in the tournament to shoot at or below par. Sophomore Jack Buchanan tied for 20th with a 5-over 215, while Dumdumaya shot an 8-over 218 to tie for 30th.

USC was just shy of breaking the top 25 in the newest rankings, sitting at No. 27 — one behind UCLA at No. 26. Dumdumaya was the Trojans’ lone top-100 representative in the individual rankings, coming in at No. 88 in the country.

Head Coach Mark Hankins’ squad will have more than a month to prepare for its next competition: the Desimone Invitational, which will take place in Daly City from March 9-10.