Men’s golf controls Southern Highlands Collegiate


By
 in ,

On a course that gives pause to some of the best golfers in the nation, the men’s golf team was not intimidated as they took home the team championship on Wednesday at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, hosted at the Southern Highlands Country Club in Nevada.

The Southern Highlands C.C., nestled in the Las Vegas Valley, is renowned as being one of the nation’s toughest courses. It has played host to two PGA Tour events since it was established in 1999 and served as one of the toughest hurdles of the year for each of the schools that competed in the tournament.

“I am so proud of our team,” head coach Chris Zambri said. “This golf course is the most challenging course we’ll play all year. Winning here says that we are a very good team.”

Led by junior Rico Hoey and Sean Crocker, the No. 4 Trojans fought back after finishing one stroke out of the lead at the end of the first day of the competition. They took the lead on Day 2 and never looked back, finishing with a final score of +5, 4 strokes better than the No. 12 Florida Gators. USC was one of four top-10 teams to compete in the tournament, along with No. 6 Arizona State (who finished tied for fourth), No. 1 Illinois (T-8th), and No. 8 Alabama (T-13th).

Crocker turned in the second-best individual score of the tournament by finishing at -3; his score was his fourth top-eight score this year and his second consecutive top-eight finish — he finished tied for fifth at last week’s Southwestern Jones Invitational. Crocker tied his personal best finish this season, as he also came in second at the season-opening Husky Invitational.

Hoey finished in the top-10 for the sixth consecutive tournament, and his final round score of 72 was the Trojans’ best. He birdied two holes on the front nine in the final round, and his final tally is his seventh top-10 of the season. Freshman Justin Suh tied for 14th in the tournament with a score of +3; his finish was his second top-20 finish on the year. Senior Andrew Levitt, who won the individual championship at the Southwestern Jones Invitational, tied for 27th at the Southern Highlands Collegiate with a score of +7. Sophomore Jonah Texeira was USC’s final golfer of record, finishing tied for 47th with a final score of +10.

The Trojans, who were already trending upward in the national rankings, expect to see a further boost after their second consecutive team victory, and their third overall in the spring season. The team now looks ahead to The Goodwin, which will take place in Palo Alto between March 24-26 at the Stanford Golf Course.