Men’s golf battled at the Southwestern Invitational from Jan. 29 to Jan. 31, and the grounds of North Ranch Country Club carry some weight for longtime USC golf fans. When the tournament initially began back in 1978, it was hosted by USC and was once known as the USC Collegiate Invitational. In the early 2010s, it was co-hosted by both USC and Pepperdine until the Waves took sole hosting responsibility. Now, still at North Ranch Country Club, USC faced a well-known challenge against a stacked field. 

The Trojans’ roster is composed of young guns and new faces. This has its pros and its cons: The players have an extra edge to get out there and prove themselves, but also a lot of inexperience. 

For the youngbloods on the Trojans’ squad, an event of this magnitude was a new experience. 

“These guys don’t know anything about that,” said Head Coach Mark Hankins. “It’s one of the things with three guys that have never played in this tournament before.” 

If the players felt nervous on opening day, they certainly didn’t show it. Sophomore transfer Antonio Safa and freshman Nicolas Dominguez had lights-out day one performances. Safa posted a 4-under 67, while Dominguez shot 5-under with a 66. The rest of the team rounded out with scores in the 70s. This strong start propelled USC to one back of first place with all the momentum in the world. 

Day two proved to be a tougher task. The team turned tense as expectations went through the roof. Dominguez’s flawless performance seemed to flip on its head, and no one could get anything going. Without his strong presence on the course, the rest of the team followed suit. No one broke par, and the high scores started to add up. 

In an interview with the Daily Trojan, Hankins poked fun at the pressures of being a freshman.

“If you know anything about golf and freshmen … [Dominguez] just got ahead of himself, kind of got in a hurry out there,” Hankins said. “The second day [Dominguez] was worried about all the wrong things, and he didn’t play well.”

The third day contained much of the same. As a collective, the Trojans shot two strokes worse than on day two. Without experience, this roster let the leaderboard slip away. Following a first-day score of 278 was a team 294 and 296 for a total score of 868, 16 over par. This placed USC tied for 16th with the University of Houston.

At the top of the leaderboard were Ohio State and University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who both went under by double digits. Ohio State’s total score of 839, 13 under, just beat out UNLV’s 840, 12 under. USC outperformed both teams on day one, further emphasizing their potential. 

The Trojans have all the tools they need to perform at the next level. They connected on all cylinders opening day, proving they could compete and even beat the best. Consistency and mentality proved to be key struggles during the Southwestern Invitational. It’s about putting the pieces together and finding a way to maintain them.  

This experience is a step in the right direction. Understanding how to play in high-pressure situations will help the team in future events. Hankins looks to build off of this and continue to make progress.

It is back to qualifying for men’s golf. With a deep roster, there may be a drastically different team heading into their next challenge. USC will travel to Lihue, the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Ocean Course at Hokuala on Feb. 15, 16 and 17 for the John A. Burns Intercollegiate.