No. 12 USC Begins NCAAs At Pullman Regional
May 13, 2013 | Men's Golf
May 13, 2013
The No. 12 USC men's golf team, two-time winners this year and gunning for its first NCAA team title, will play as the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Championships Pullman Regional, Thursday through Saturday (May 16-18), at Washington State's Palouse Ridge G.C.
The Trojans, who have reached the NCAA final for the past six years, are among 81 teams grouped into six regionals. Five teams in each regional - three with 13 teams and three with 14 teams -- and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the NCAA Championship final, hosted by Georgia Tech, May 28-June 2.
Joining USC in its region are No. 1 seed and overall No. 1 California, No. 2 TCU, No. 4 St. Mary's, No. 5 Virginia Tech, No. 6 BYU, No. 7 North Texas, No. 8 Baylor, No. 9 San Diego State, No. 10 Ball State, No. 11 Memphis, No. 12 Pacific, No. 13 Princeton and No. 14 Saint Francis. Ryan Williams and Jordan Weir from Sacramento State, Tyler Raber of UC Davis, Mason Casper of Utah Valley and Taeksoo Kim of Boise State will play as individuals.
Ten Pac-12 schools - all but Washington State and Utah -- were selected to play in the NCAA Tournament.
Live results will be available at Golfstat.com. Click here for Washington State's Regional home page.
USC returns five players from last year's squad and has welcomed three newcomers. The squad is led by junior Jeffrey Kang, a 2012 All-American honorable mention selection, and by senior Sam Smith, a two-time All-Pac-12 honorable mention pick. Sophomore Anthony Paolucci also earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors last year and the nation's top recruit in 2011 has taken a big step in the 2012-13 season. Also back are junior Ramsey Sahyoun, a 2012 Pac-12 All-Academic honoree and senior Stewart Hagestad. Joining the squad are highly touted freshmen Yi Keun "Jay" Chang, Michael Moorhead and Andrew Levitt.
NOTES
Freshman Yi Keun Chang leads the Trojans in stroke average (72.16), rounds in the 60s (seven) and top 10 finishes (four), including a win at the North Ranch Intercollegiate, his first collegiate title ... Senior Sam Smith fired a career-best 65 at the North Ranch Intercollegiate and has a team-best seven top 17 results this year, including five in a row. He is second on the squad in stroke average (72.29) and has been USC's top finisher the past four events ... Sophomore Anthony Paolucci is third on the squad with a 72.48 stroke average and has had just one round higher than 76 this year. He has three top 10 finishes and five in the top 20 and, like Chang, has been USC's top finisher three times this season ... Junior Jeffrey Kang is fourth on the team with a stroke average of 73.44 and has four top 15 finishes ... Junior Ramsey Sahyoun has been solid with four top 26 finishes this....Senior Stewart Hagestad has come on of late and was USC's third-highest finisher at the 2013 Pac-12 Championships.
Troy opened spring play with a tie for fourth at the Amer Ari Invitational before tying for first at The Prestige at PGA West, coming from behind to earn a share of the title. USC continued the hot streak with a nine-stroke win at the North Ranch Intercollegiate.
USC posted a trio of third-place finishes in fall play at the Pac-12 Preview, the U.S. Collegiate Championship and the Gifford Collegiate-CordeValle. The Trojans also claimed the consolation final of the Stanford Classic Match Play while Kang tied for 12th in the individual-only Western Refining Collegiate.
Chang led all Trojan finishers at the Pac-12 Preview with a fifth-place finish at 7-under 209 (69-67-73). Kang tied for eighth at 5-under 211 (70-71-70). Chang paced USC again at the U.S. Collegiate Championship with a tie for ninth at 2-over 218 (71-75-72). He opened his final round with a 1-over front 9 but completed the day with a 1-under back 9, including birdies on 15 and 18. Paolucci (74-72-74) and Smith (71-76-73) tied for 20th at 4-over 220. At the Gifford Collegiate, Paolucci led the Trojans with a tie for fifth at 2-under 211 (71-71-69) while Smith tied for 13th at 3-over 216 (76-67-73). Paolucci's tie for 10th at 5-under 211 again led USC's efforts at the Amer Ari Invitational and the sophomore did it again at The Prestige at PGA West, tying for second as USC claimed a share of the event title. Kang and Chang tied for seventh. Chang topped USC's finishers with his win at the North Ranch Intercollegiate, finishing at 2-under 211 (70-68-73) while Smith took fourth at 3-over 216 (65-71-80). Smith led USC at both the Southern Highlands Collegiate Masters and the U.S. Intercollegiate with ties for 16th. He then led USC at the Western Intercollegiate with a tie for 12 and bested Troy for a fourth event in a row with a tie for 17th at the Pac-12 Championships.
Players Mentioned
