With 3 Straight Top 3s, USC Women's Golf Set For PING/ASU Invitational
The No. 12 USC women's golf team, with one win during the fall season and three straight top 3 spring results, returns this week to one of the most venerable events in the west, the PING/ASU Invitational, Friday through Sunday (March 24-26), at the Karsten G.C. in Tempe, Ariz.
The 17-team field is hosted by Arizona State and also includes Arizona, Baylor, California, Colorado, Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, Mississippi State, New Mexico, Northwestern, Oregon, Oregon State, Texas, USC, Washington and Washington State.
Tee times begin Friday at 8 a.m. PT. USC is off at 8:45 a.m., paired with Mississippi State and Kansas. Results will be available at golfstat.com.
USC last played in the event in 2019 and won the tournament at 5-under. Current senior Malia Nam played as a freshman, but she is not in the lineup this week. The Trojans also won the event in 2008, led by All-American Dewi Claire Schreefel, who tied for first. That was the first of 4 straight wins en route to the 2008 NCAA title.
The Trojans are led by fifth-year head coach Justin Silverstein and first-year assistant coach Tiffany Joh, the All-American first-teamer and LPGA star from UCLA now in her second year of collegiate coaching.
EARLY SPRING RESULTS
USC opened spring play with the debut of the Battle for the Bell, a two-round match-play event between the Trojans and their crosstown rivals, UCLA. The Bruins got the better of the event, winning 8.5-3.5. Freshman Catherine Park posted a 2up win in the first day of action at Sherwood C.C. while sophomore Amari Avery halved her match. In the second day at Rolling Hills C.C., Avery won her match, 5&4, while senior Malia Nam won hers, 4&3.
Troy followed it with a solid tie for third at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge, led by Xin (Cindy) Kou's season-best tie for fifth at par 213 (72-68-73) while Avery tied for 12th at 2-over 215 (73-73-69).
USC next took third at the ICON Invitational, led again by Kou, who tied for sixth at 10-under 206 (65-70-71) for her third top 7 this season. Senior Malia Nam, meanwhile, tied for 14th at 5-under 211 (69-73-69). Her 5-under was her most under par since her USC debut as a 2018 fall freshman when she was second at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate at 12-under 204.
USC posted another top 3 finish most recently, taking second at the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational at 1-under, led by Amari Avery, who tied for third at 1-under 215 (72-70-73) for her second top 3 this season and her third top 7. Freshman Catherine Park's tie for sixth at par 216 (71-70-75) marked her highest finish this season and her fourth top 17.
FALL HIGHLIGHTS
After a tough season-opener, USC came roaring back in its second event of the fall season, winning the Windy City Collegiate Classic on Oct. 4 by nine strokes while sophomore Amari Avery won her fourth career individual title by a stroke. It marked both USC's third team and individual wins at the event. Avery won at 6-under 210 (67-69-74). Fellow sophomore Xin (Cindy) Kou tied for seventh at 3-over 219 (72-75-72).
THE TROJANS IN THE RANKINGS
Amari Avery is the No. 24-ranked golfer in the NCAA per golfweek.com while Xin (Cindy) Kou is No. 35, Brianna Navarrosa is No. 116 and Catherine Park is No. 148.
TROJAN NOTES
* Amari Avery's win at the Windy City gives her four for her career, tied for fifth on USC's career chart. She has three top 7 finishes, six top 14s and seven top 23 results to start her sophomore year.
* Avery has a team-best seven rounds in the 60s this season, giving her 17 career rounds in the 60s, fourth on USC's career chart, five off the school record.
* Avery leads USC with a stroke average of 71.54 — inside USC's all time top 5 on the season charts — and also boasts team bests in rounds under par (10) and is second in rounds of par or better (13).
* Xin (Cindy) Kou's tie for fifth at the Regional Challenge, her tie for sixth at the ICON Invitational and her tie for seventh at the Windy City Collegiate marks eight career top 10s in her young career and gives her four top 17s this season. She has been inside the top 25 in all six events.
* Kou is second on the Trojans with a stroke average of 71.61, which includes 12 rounds of par or better (second-best on the team), including five under par. She has three rounds under 70 in her last seven rounds, including a career-best 65 in the ICON Invitational first round, giving her 10 for her career.
* She played at the 2023 Women's Amateur Asia Pacific in early March in Singapore, tying for 20th at 2-over.w
* Brianna Navarrosa's tie for third at 5-under 211 (69-70-72) at the Stephens Cup was her second top 3 finish in a five-start stretch.
* Navarrosa had four top 19 finishes this fall and has 10 top 22s in her last 14 events. She is third on the team with 11 rounds of par or better and she has 6 rounds under par.
* Senior Malia Nam turned in a season-best tie for 14th at the ICON Invitational at 5-under par 211 with a pair of 69s, her best finish since the 2021 Pac-12 Championships.
* Her pair of 69s gives her 13 career rounds in the 60s, tied for ninth on USC's career chart.
* Junior Christine Wang has a trio of ties for 24th, first at the Windy City and again at the Regional Challenge and the Juli Inkster Invitational. Her 1-under 70 at Palos Verdes was a then-career best and bettered her season-best 71 at the Stephens Cup. She then lowered it to 68 in the second round of the ICON Invitational, where she finished a career-best even for the tournament. At the Juli Inkster, she lowered her career best again to a 66.
* Freshman Catherine Park has five top 25 results this fall, including a season-best tie for sixth at the Juli Inkster Invitational at even par. She also has a pair of ties for 12th at the Windy City and at the Regional Challenge. Her play in Chicago featured a then-season-best final-round 70 while she closed with a 71 in Palos Verdes. She also tied for 17th at the Nanea Pac-12 Preview at 2-over.
TROJAN OVERVIEW
USC returns seven golfers from last year's team that posted a trio of wins, captured the 2022 NCAA Stanford Regional and finished 10th at the NCAA Championships, just outside of match play.
Avery returns following her All-American first-team debut as a 2021-22 freshman — which saw her win three times — while Nam, also an All-American as a freshman, is back after missing last season due to injury. Kou was Pac-12 honorable mention last year and started all 13 events, as did the ever-improving Navarrosa, while Park will make her debut in Cardinal and Gold.
USC saw just one departure from last season as fifth-year senior and All-Pac-12 honorable mention pick Katherine Muzi transferred for her final season to South Carolina.
TROJAN FLASH CARDS ENTERING 2022-23
* Avery was a finalist for the 2022 ANNIKA Award as well as the WGCA Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year honor and managed all of that despite joining the Trojans as a spring semester freshman. Collegiately, Avery posted three wins (including at NCAA Regionals), a tie for second, a tie for fifth, a tie for sixth and a tie for eighth among her first eight stroke-play starts.
* Avery, who tied for fourth at the Augusta National Women's Amateur, finished with seven top 10 finishes (all in the top 8) in nine stroke play events, tied for sixth on USC's all-time season list.
* Avery represented the U.S. at the 2022 Curtis Cup and Arnold Palmer Cup.
* Amari Avery won her fourth career event at the 2022 Windy City Collegiate Classic. That total is now tie for 5th on USC's career tournament wins list. She now has 12 career rounds in the 60s in less than a full season of collegiate golf, tied for ninth on USC's career chart.
* Junior Brianna Navarrosa was a 2022 U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist. She finished second on the Trojans in stroke average (73.63) after starting all 13 events. She had six top 16 finishes and nine in the top 24 to go with 11 top 20s for her career. She led USC at the NCAA Championships, tying for 21st.
* Sophomore Xin (Cindy) Kou is USC's other returner who started all 13 events last year. She was just the third Trojan freshman in over 20 years to record four straight top 15s to start the season.
Kou finished with four top 5 finishes, five top 10s and six top 15 results. Her 13-under at the Icon Invitational last year is tied for the third-best total in school history.
* Junior Michael Morard came on strong last spring and finished with three top 11s, highlighted by a tie for eighth at The Gold Rush and a tie for 11th at the Icon Invitational. She had 11 rounds of par or better.
* Injured last season, graduate senior Malia Nam looks to return to the form this year that made her the 2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year and a 2019 All-American.