USC men’s golf ended the regular season just the way it started: with a tournament team win. 

After opening the fall with a victory at the Whirlwind Invitational in early September, the Trojans bookended their season by taking home the team title at the Western Intercollegiate on April 13-15 in their final tournament before the postseason. 

In fact, USC rattled off back-to-back tournament wins: Two weeks before the Western Intercollegiate, it took home the title at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, March 31 to April 1.

The Trojans’ blazing finish not only proved they’re ready to compete with anyone in the playoffs, but also established this year’s group as one of the most dominant teams in recent program history. The two victories earlier this month gave USC four team titles in 2025-26, tied for the second-most in a single season since 1996. 

But the Trojans didn’t just collect trophies in team competition: At the Western Intercollegiate, sophomore Jack Buchanan put together an impressive performance and picked up co-medalist honors for his first career individual championship. 

Buchanan, Stock share third in team win at Cowboy Classic

After a disappointing stretch to start the spring season, USC returned to its winning ways at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic in Maricopa, Arizona. The Trojans’ one-shot victory at 26-under 838 — including 16-under 272 in the opening round — ended a nearly six-month winless drought dating back to their third event of the season in October. 

Taking advantage of the scoring conditions in the first round, Buchanan’s 5-under 67 was jump-started by a run of four consecutive birdies. He backed it up with two solid rounds to finish at 10-under 206, three shots behind champion Arkansas State senior Thomas Schmidt. 

Along with Buchanan, redshirt senior Luke Stock was also in contention for the individual title in a tie for third. He made eight birdies in a spectacular round of 66 to begin his tournament. 

After making eagle on the par-five 16th to reach 11-under for the tournament, Stock struggled over the closing stretch and settled for a 3-under 69. 

Stock’s bumpy finish carried over into the final round, making three costly bogeys in his first six holes, but he rallied with five birdies to end the day in red figures for his best tournament of the season. 

Tied in the team competition with one hole to go, Stock’s clutch closing birdie on the par-5 third lifted the Trojans past the Red Wolves.

“Really gutty performance by all five guys this week,” Head Coach Mark Hankins said in an interview with USC Athletics. “We knew we were the top-ranked team, but you still have to battle the golf course, the conditions and your expectations.”

Buchanan grabs first career individual win in regular season finale

Coming off his second top-five finish of the season at the Cowboy Classic, Buchanan took his game to the next level at the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz. 

There, Buchanan shared first place with Stanford senior Dean Greyserman at 10-under 210. 

There were plenty of indications early in his opening round that Buchanan was in the zone. After a birdie at the first, Buchanan jarred his tee shot on the 190-yard, par-3 fifth for an ace. It’s not the first time Buchanan has made a hole-in-one in collegiate competition; he also knocked one in during the second round of the Desimone Invitational back in March. 

Following the ace, Buchanan was able to refocus quickly, making back-to-back birdies. On the back nine, however, Buchanan had to battle to hang on at 3-under 67. 

As if the first round wasn’t exciting enough, Buchanan’s second round provided more than its fair share of fireworks. Buchanan launched his assault on Pasatiempo, shooting 8-under 62 to match the lowest USC round ever, as well as break the lowest tournament round ever recorded at the historic track. 

Heading into the final round with a three-shot cushion, Buchanan couldn’t replicate the flag-hunting prowess that brought him success over the first two days. Two bogeys and a lone birdie resulted in a 71. 

The closing bogey on the iconic par-3 18th put Buchanan in a tie with Greyserman, who made a final round charge with a 62 of his own after beginning the day nine shots back. 

USC outlasts the field at Pasatiempo

While Buchanan thrived in Santa Cruz, his teammates did well in their own right: The Trojans used an exceptional second round of 16-under 334 to beat out UC Berkeley by a single shot at 13-under.   

The highly-touted 15-team field at the Western Intercollegiate included four top-25 ranked schools, including No. 13 Pepperdine and No. 18 Stanford. 

USC did not have its best stuff in the first round, finishing tied for seventh. However, Buchanan’s historic second day, along with a 65 from sophomore Jaden Dumdumaya and 68 from senior Antonio Safa, helped the Trojans turn their fortunes around and grab a four-shot lead after 36 holes. 

USC began to see its lead slip away in the final round, but junior Nicolas Dominguez’s career-best 6-under 64, which included two eagles, kept the team afloat as USC held on by one over Cal. 

Dumdumaya racked up his fourth top-10 finish of the season in sixth place at 6-under. Dominguez ended in a tie for 10th after rising 25 spots in the final round for his third top-10 this season. 

Trojans look for improvement in Big Ten Championship 

The Trojans’ victory over a high-quality field should give the squad confidence as it begins its postseason slate on Friday at the Big Ten Championship. 

The tournament will be contested at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Oregon, as USC tries to improve upon last year’s 11th-place finish in the 18-team event.

The Trojans enter the championship as the second-highest-ranked team in the conference, behind No. 12 Illinois. Purdue and defending Big Ten champion UCLA are expected to be among the schools USC must contend with if it wants to claim the conference title. 

While the Trojans will likely qualify for the NCAA Regionals on May 18-20 regardless of their showing in the Big Ten Championship, a tournament win and an automatic bid to the regional round would significantly bolster USC’s resume and ranking as it looks to advance to the NCAA Finals in Carlsbad. 

“The guys are really playing well heading into the postseason, so we’re excited to see how far this team will go this year,” Buchanan said in an April 15 interview with USC Athletics.