Women’s golf travels to New Orleans for Allstate Sugar Bowl


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After two back-to-back tournaments to start spring play, the women’s golf team will head to New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl. The team will look to bounce back from a rough start to the season at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge Feb. 3–5.

In the tournament, the team got off to a sluggish start and had to battle back from behind. USC finished at a solid third place, but as the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, the Women of Troy cannot afford to get outplayed by lower ranked opponents if they want to maintain their top spot. However, the Northrop Grumman Challenge was filled with elite level teams, including Pac-12 rivals and highly-ranked opponents in Stanford, Arizona and UCLA, as well as No. 2 Texas.  

“We were a little disappointed not to win and we had to deal with some pretty nasty conditions, so it took a little time to get back into the flow,” head coach Justin Silverstein said.  

Although the team as a whole struggled, Silverstein noted that sophomore Jennifer Chang played extraordinarily. Chang ended up with her best round of the season on the final day and finished the tournament tied for fourth.  

Last week, several players competed in an individual event at the Battle of the Rock.  Among them, sophomore Alyaa Abdulghany came up with her first career title after finishing four under. Abdulghany has not been in the starting lineup for the past few tournaments but has shown promise when given the opportunity to perform in events.  

At the Sugar Bowl this weekend, the Trojans will look to tighten their grasp on their top rank against another tough field. Going down south will be both a change of scenery and competition, as they will face more colleges from the Southeast as opposed to their normal slate of West Coast opponents.  

“We will get some different weather and different grass, so we have to drive it well because the course has small greens,” Silverstein said. “We played there last year, and this golf course suits our style.”

In last season’s Sugar Bowl, the women managed to place second to a solid team in No. 18 Florida. This season, however, the Trojans are considerably stronger and should be favorites heading into Sunday’s matchup.  

At the end of the day, the teams they face may not only be USC’s biggest competition for a Pac-12 title, but also for an NCAA championship. Heading into the weekend as the No. 1 team, the Trojans have to remember that every tournament is key in proving that they deserve the top spot. They will kick off the Allstate Sugar Bowl Feb. 17 in New Orleans.