USC’s golf teams continue fall schedule


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The USC golf teams both begin tournaments today, with the women taking on top competition at the Windy City Collegiate Classic and the men teeing off in the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational.

Above par · Sophomore Rico Hoey is off to a strong start in the 2014 season, with a top-three finish in only his second event of the year. The Rancho Cucamonga, California, native now has 10 career top-10 finishes. - Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

Above par · Sophomore Rico Hoey is off to a strong start in the 2014 season, with a top-three finish in only his second event of the year. The Rancho Cucamonga, California, native now has 10 career top-10 finishes. – Photo courtesy of USC Sports Information

The No. 1 Women of Troy, last year’s NCAA runner-up, finished in sixth place at the season-opening ANNIKA Intercollegiate without several key players. Junior Annie Park, a two-time All-American, will return to the team this week, while junior Kyung Kim is still out of the lineup.

Senior Doris Chen and sophomore Karen Chung led the way for USC in Kim and Park’s absence, tying for 11th individually at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate with scores of 1-under. Chen, Chung, Park and sophomores Elizabeth Doty and Gabriella Then will make up the lineup for the Women of Troy in this week’s tournament. Doty, a transfer from Wake Forest, shot a combined 3-over in her first event with USC, good for a 25th-place tie.

Joining the Women of Troy at the Westmoreland C.C. in Wilmette, Illinois, will be No. 9 Arizona, No. 17 Northwestern, No. 18 Oklahoma State and No. 23 Ohio State. Last season, USC overcame a dramatic scorecard error from Park to outlast Oklahoma and win the Windy City Classic. This year’s event will run through Tuesday and can be followed on golfstat.com.

The No. 23 men’s team has already found success this season, recording top-two finishes in both of its first two tournaments. Sophomore standout Rico Hoey built upon an outstanding rookie campaign in last week’s Itani Quality Homes Collegiate hosted by Washington State. Hoey tied for third place individually while the Trojans fell to Oregon in a two-team playoff.

At this week’s Nike Collegiate Invitational, USC will face host TCU, along with a collection of top teams that includes No. 2 Stanford and No. 8 Washington. The Cardinal made it all the way to the NCAA semifinals last season, while the Trojans finished in 30th.

Along with Hoey, head coach Chris Zambri’s lineup features senior Eric Sugimoto, junior Bobby Gojuangco, and freshmen Jonah Texeira and Sean Crocker. Texeira was excellent at last week’s event, tying with Gojuangco for 10th-place at 1-under in only his second collegiate event. The score was also a career-best for Gojuangco, a transfer from San Diego State who joined Zambri’s squad last season.

The Trojans will play two full rounds today with another to come on Tuesday. Play at the Colonial C.C. in Fort Worth, Texas, can also be followed on golfstat.com.