No. 7 USC Set For U.S. Collegiate Championship
October 15, 2015 | Men's Golf
The No. 7 USC men's golf team, led by All-American duo junior Rico Hoey and sophomore Sean Crocker, moves forward with the fall schedule at the 2015 U.S. Collegiate Championship, Friday through Sunday (Oct. 16-18) at the Golf Club of Georgia in Alapharetta, Ga.
The participating teams (with Golfstat rankings as of Oct. 15): Auburn (1), Clemson (21), East Tennessee State (50), Florida State (4), Georgia Tech (19), Iowa (43), Kent State (48), LSU (27), Mississippi (71), Oklahoma (9), Oklahoma State (2), USC (7), Stanford (8), Texas (13), UCLA (24), Virginia (22), Wake Forest (5)
Action will begin at 8 a.m. ET each day off the first and 10th tees. Results will be available at Golfstat.com. USC won the event in 2008.
The event this week is the first of back-to-back tournaments the Trojans will play in Georgia. USC returns to the Peach State for the East Lake Cup in Atlanta on Nov. 2-3, a men's and women's match play event pitting the 2015 NCAA Championships semifinalists.
The Trojans, under 10th-year coach Chris Zambri, returns four of its five starters from its 2015 postseason run to the NCAA Championships final, including Hoey, Crocker, senior Bobby Gojuangco and sophomore Jonah Texeira. Other returning golfers include senior Andrew Levitt and juniors Danny Ochoa and David Kim. Kim was a 2015 spring semester transfer in January but redshirted last season.
Zambri welcomes three freshmen into the Trojan Family, including Justin Suh, Ryan Slater and Ing Ratanavadi
Crocker, a 2015 GCAA All-American third-teamer, is coming off one of the top seasons ever by a Trojan freshman in 2015 when he led the team in stroke average (70.39), rounds in the 60s (19) and top 10 finishes (eight). Crocker's 19 rounds under 70 were the most by a Trojan since Jamie Lovemark had 20 as a 2007 freshman.
Hoey, a 2015 GCAA All-American honorable mention pick, was second on the team with a 70.86 stroke average, 18 rounds in the 60s and six top 5 finishes.
Both were also All Pac-12 first team picks while Crocker, the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, joined Texeira on the All-Pac-12 freshman team.
USC's run to the 2015 NCAA Championship match play final began with a fifth-place finish after four rounds of stroke play, earning a match play spot for the first time since 2009. The Trojans then defeated Texas, 4-1, in the NCAA quarterfinals and dispatched of Illinois, 3.5-1.5, in the semifinals. USC faced LSU in the final and fell 4-1, with three of the five matches decided with just one hole to play.
NOTES
* Sophomore Sean Crocker leads the team with a stroke average of 69.33 with four rounds under 70 in his first six outings. Junior Rico Hoey is second in stroke average at 70.50 with three rounds in the 60s. Both boast a pair of top 20 finishes in USC's first two outings.
* Senior Andrew Levitt's tie for fifth at the Nike Golf Collegiate at 9-under 206 (69-70-67) was a career-best effort and were his top three rounds in his abridged Trojan career. He is third on the team in stroke average at 71.83.
2015-16 EVENT RECAPS
HUSKY INVITATIONAL
Sophomore Sean Crocker fired his third consecutive round under par to finish second at 6-under, junior Rico Hoey staged a late rally to capture fourth at par as the then-No. 5 USC men's golf team finished fourth overall in the season-opening Husky Invitational in Suncadia, Wash., on Sept. 22. The Trojans wrapped play at 18-over 870 (300-284-286) with their second straight strong round. USC finished five back of Oregon and Washington, which tied for first at 13-over 865. Oregon State was third at 17-over 869. Troy's final two rounds were the best combined rounds among the 14 teams. Crocker, who had eight top 10 finishes last year, took second at 6-under 207 (69-68-70) while Hoey, who had six top 5s last year, was fourth at even 213 (74-70-69) as the pair picked up where they left off from their 2015 All-American seasons. Crocker eagled 3 and 15 in the final round to go with birdies on 11 and 16, though late bogeys on 17 and 18 cost him a chance at his second career win.
NIKE GOLF COLLEGIATE
Senior Andrew Levitt's final-round 67 and his tie for fifth were career bests while sophomore Jonah Texeira also tied for fifth to lead the USC men's golf team to a tie for second at the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational at Pumpkin Ridge Oct. 6. The Trojans combined for a 34-under 826 (272-276-278), tied for second with Duke, three behind winner Wake Forest. USC's counting four golfers were a combined 12-under on the back 9 to make it close, but Troy couldn't catch a Deamon Deacon team that led the entire tournament. Levitt (69-70-67) and Texeira (70-67-69) tied for fifth at 9-under 206. Levitt's three rounds were the three best of his Trojan career, spent mostly as a reserve. Levitt was even going out but 5-under during a blistering back 9 that included six birdies. Texeira was also hot coming home, going 4-under with four birdies. Sophomore Sean Crocker tied for 16th at 6-under 209 (67-68-74), junior Rico Hoey tied for 19th at 5-under 210 (69-73-68) and freshman Justin Suh tied for 39th at par 215 (67-71-77).
Players Mentioned
