There have been plenty of parallels between this year’s iterations of USC men’s and women’s golf. Both closed out their regular season slates with team and individual victories before teeing it up at their respective Big Ten Championships. 

Both advanced to the regional round and still have a chance to compete for a national championship at the NCAA Finals, coming off one of each team’s best seasons in recent memory, filled with numerous team titles and memorable individual efforts. 

While both teams qualified for the NCAA Regionals at the Big Ten Championship, each did so in very different ways.

For No. 2 women’s golf, sophomore Jasmine Koo added another chapter to an increasingly legendary collegiate career, securing an eighth career tournament win at the Big Ten Championship on April 24-26, less than three weeks after breaking the all-time program individual wins record. Koo also became the first individual Big Ten Champion in school history. 

Her come-from-behind victory was part of USC’s 12-shot triumph over Ohio State in the team competition to earn the Trojans an automatic berth to NCAA Regionals. This carried over into the regional round, where they punched their ticket to the NCAA Finals with yet another team win over the Buckeyes. 

The men’s team, meanwhile, finished fifth out of 18 schools in the Big Ten Championship on May 1-3. Sophomores Jaden Dumdumaya and Jack Buchanan delivered impressive performances on the postseason stage, carrying the load for the Trojans on their way to third-place finishes. 

Women win regional round tournament before NCAA Championship

The Trojans were undoubtedly the best team in the conference all year. They proved it again at the Big Ten Championship with a comfortable team victory to claim the program’s 10th-ever conference title and first in the Big Ten in just its second season.

Regardless of the venue and competition, USC has remained unbeatable. After flying across the country, competing against the best the other conferences could offer in the NCAA Regionals and playing without Koo due to an illness, it didn’t matter — the Trojans showed championship mettle and rolled. 

USC rallied after beginning the final round tied for second place to grab the team victory by five at 1-over 853 for its 16th regional title and 28th consecutive trip to the NCAA Finals, the country’s longest active streak. The tournament win was also the Trojans’ eighth of the season and seventh straight, the longest streak in the nation this season and in program history.  

Sophomore Elise Lee put together the best finish of her career at an ideal time, shooting 4-under 209 over three days, including a 5-under 66 in the first round, to finish tied for second.

Senior Catherine Park closed with back-to-back rounds of 69 to finish 2-under for the tournament in fifth place, while sophomore Kylie Chong played three consistent rounds to finish tied for 11th at 1-over. 

Buchanan, Dumdumaya shine in men’s fifth-place finish 

At the men’s golf Big Ten Championship in North Plains, Oregon, the Trojans posted their best finish in the conference tournament round in nearly a decade, ending in fifth place at 14-over 854, 22 shots back of the winner, UCLA. 

USC recovered from a poor opening round, where it shot 13-over 293, with a 3-under 277 in the second round to set itself up for a high team finish.

Dumdumaya and Buchanan hung around near the top of the leaderboard all tournament, eventually ending in a tie for third. Their 3-under 207 left them five behind Bruin freshman Josh Kim for the lead. 

Dumdumaya’s second-round 66 put him in excellent position to make a run, but a rollercoaster back nine in the final round, which didn’t include a par until the 17th hole, cost him ground. Buchanan, meanwhile, closed with three birdies in the last five holes to leapfrog other players in red figures. 

No other player from USC finished inside the top 50, as freshman Raghav Gulati, junior Nicolas Dominguez and redshirt senior Luke Stock played well for stretches but couldn’t avoid trouble. 

Men travel to regional, women await NCAA Championship

With their next postseason events imminent, both USC golf squads are readily preparing as they expect to face their biggest test yet. 

At the NCAA Regionals at Bermuda Run Country Club outside Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which kicked off Monday, men’s golf entered as the fifth seed. The 14-team field includes the reigning NCAA runner-up, No. 3 Virginia, as well as heavyweights No. 10 Ole Miss and No. 15 Pepperdine. 

To advance to the NCAA Finals, which begin on May 29, USC must finish in the top five in the team competition after Wednesday’s final round. 

As for the women’s team, the Trojans will tee it up at the Omni La Costa Champions Course

for the NCAA Finals starting Friday as one of the favorites to claim their first national championship since 2013. 

Given how the season has gone for USC, a ninth straight win and a national championship would be the cherry on top of an incredible season.