University Southern California Trojans
Tuesday, March 10
Daly City, CA
9:50 a.m. PT
USC
at
The Desimone Invitational
Photo by: Kevin Kim
No. 25 USC Men’s Golf Wraps up Desimone Invitational
March 10, 2026 | Men's Golf
Freshman Raghav Gulati led the team with his first top-20 finish of his career.
DALY CITY, Calif. —The No. 25 USC men's golf team finished in 10th place out of 15 teams after the final round of play at The Desimone Invitational, hosted by the University of California at Lake Merced Golf Club on Tuesday, March 10.
The Trojans started the day in 11th place and moved up to fourth on the back side before finishing in 10th place with an 858 (-6). In a tournament where 11 of the 15 teams finished under par at the par-72, 6,915-yard Lake Merced Golf Course, No. 9 Arizona State prevailed with an 825 (-39) SMU's Ben Steinmann and Arizona State's Pongsapak Laopakdee were co-medalists with 203s (-13).
Freshman Raghav Gulati led the Trojans in his best collegiate tournament to date. The native of New Delhi, India moved up 25 places during the final round with a 69 (-3) that tied his best collegiate round. His 213 (-3) tied his best tournament score relative to par and was tied for 20th overall for his first career top-20 finish.
"My hard work's actually paying off," Gulati said. "It's good to see some good results, but it's on to the next event. I think this is a pretty big motivator for me personally, um, but as a team, we've got some stuff to clean up and we're looking forward to the next event."
In his final round, Gulati started his round with a birdie on the par-4 No. 10 and had another on the par-5 No. 14 before running into some trouble with a double-bogey on the par-4 No. 15. However, he birdied the par-5 No. 18 at the turn and carried that momentum onto the back side, where he finished with two more birdies and no bogeys.
"I had pretty mixed emotions on the front side, standing on the 16th tee," Gulati said. "But I kept myself in it and told myself that there's no reason I can let that double bogey affect the rest of my round because I've got plenty of golf to play."
Gulati's 25-place improvement on the final round was the sixth-biggest jump of any player on the day. He was also the only Trojan under par in the final round.
Sophomore Jack Buchanan joined Gulati as one of the two Trojans who finished the tournament under par. Buchanan started the front side with two birdies in the first four holes before having a bogey on the No. 15. He made a birdie on the par-5 No. 18 to make the turn, but found trouble on the back side with four bogeys and zero birdies to finish with a 74 (+2).
Senior Antonio Safa finished in a tie for 38th place with a 217 (+1). Safa rose up to third place on the front side with three birdies in his first five holes, however, he ran into trouble the rest of the way with five bogeys and two double bogeys to finish with a 78 (+5) on the day.
Graduate senior Luke Stock finished in a tie for 44th place with a 218 (+2) after firing a 72 (E) on Tuesday. His round had five birdies on the front side but a bogey and a double bogey on Nos. 15 and 17 set him back. He had three bogeys but just one birdie on the back side to become one of two Trojans to fire a round at par or better on Tuesday. Junior Nicolas Dominguez rounded out the USC players by tying for 77th with a 226 (+10).
Next up, the Trojans will head to Palm City, Fla. to compete at the Valspar Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of Houston at the Floridian National Golf Club from March 23-24. All pertinent schedule updates can be found on the men's golf team's schedule page on usctrojans.com.
INDIVIDUAL SCORES
T20. Raghav Gulati, -3 (71-73-69=213)
T19. Jack Buchanan, -2 (72-68-74=214)
T38. Antonio Safa, +1 (71-68-78=217)
T44. Luke Stock, +2 (71-75-72=218)
T77. Nicolas Dominguez, +10 (74-71-81=226)
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. No. 9 Arizona State, -39 (271-276-278=825)
2. TCU, -19 (273-281-291=845)
T3 SMU, -18 (276-280-290=846)
T3. No. 4 Texas, -18 (286-278-282=846)
T3. California, -18 (281-281-284=846)
6. Arizona, -17 (285-279-283=847)
7. Washington State, -16 (286-273-289=848)
8. No. 10 Pepperdine, -15 (284-279-286=849)
9. UCLA, -11 (280-281-292=853)
10. No. 25 USC, -6 (285-280-293=858)
11. San Jose State, -4 (282-281-297=860)
12. No. 24 Utah, E (284-285-294=864)
13. Wake Forest, +7 (284-285-302=871)
14. LMU, +10 (286-293-295=874)
15. Washington, +13 (288-292-297=877)
The Trojans started the day in 11th place and moved up to fourth on the back side before finishing in 10th place with an 858 (-6). In a tournament where 11 of the 15 teams finished under par at the par-72, 6,915-yard Lake Merced Golf Course, No. 9 Arizona State prevailed with an 825 (-39) SMU's Ben Steinmann and Arizona State's Pongsapak Laopakdee were co-medalists with 203s (-13).
Freshman Raghav Gulati led the Trojans in his best collegiate tournament to date. The native of New Delhi, India moved up 25 places during the final round with a 69 (-3) that tied his best collegiate round. His 213 (-3) tied his best tournament score relative to par and was tied for 20th overall for his first career top-20 finish.
"My hard work's actually paying off," Gulati said. "It's good to see some good results, but it's on to the next event. I think this is a pretty big motivator for me personally, um, but as a team, we've got some stuff to clean up and we're looking forward to the next event."
In his final round, Gulati started his round with a birdie on the par-4 No. 10 and had another on the par-5 No. 14 before running into some trouble with a double-bogey on the par-4 No. 15. However, he birdied the par-5 No. 18 at the turn and carried that momentum onto the back side, where he finished with two more birdies and no bogeys.
"I had pretty mixed emotions on the front side, standing on the 16th tee," Gulati said. "But I kept myself in it and told myself that there's no reason I can let that double bogey affect the rest of my round because I've got plenty of golf to play."
Gulati's 25-place improvement on the final round was the sixth-biggest jump of any player on the day. He was also the only Trojan under par in the final round.
Sophomore Jack Buchanan joined Gulati as one of the two Trojans who finished the tournament under par. Buchanan started the front side with two birdies in the first four holes before having a bogey on the No. 15. He made a birdie on the par-5 No. 18 to make the turn, but found trouble on the back side with four bogeys and zero birdies to finish with a 74 (+2).
Senior Antonio Safa finished in a tie for 38th place with a 217 (+1). Safa rose up to third place on the front side with three birdies in his first five holes, however, he ran into trouble the rest of the way with five bogeys and two double bogeys to finish with a 78 (+5) on the day.
Graduate senior Luke Stock finished in a tie for 44th place with a 218 (+2) after firing a 72 (E) on Tuesday. His round had five birdies on the front side but a bogey and a double bogey on Nos. 15 and 17 set him back. He had three bogeys but just one birdie on the back side to become one of two Trojans to fire a round at par or better on Tuesday. Junior Nicolas Dominguez rounded out the USC players by tying for 77th with a 226 (+10).
Next up, the Trojans will head to Palm City, Fla. to compete at the Valspar Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of Houston at the Floridian National Golf Club from March 23-24. All pertinent schedule updates can be found on the men's golf team's schedule page on usctrojans.com.
INDIVIDUAL SCORES
T20. Raghav Gulati, -3 (71-73-69=213)
T19. Jack Buchanan, -2 (72-68-74=214)
T38. Antonio Safa, +1 (71-68-78=217)
T44. Luke Stock, +2 (71-75-72=218)
T77. Nicolas Dominguez, +10 (74-71-81=226)
TEAM LEADERBOARD
1. No. 9 Arizona State, -39 (271-276-278=825)
2. TCU, -19 (273-281-291=845)
T3 SMU, -18 (276-280-290=846)
T3. No. 4 Texas, -18 (286-278-282=846)
T3. California, -18 (281-281-284=846)
6. Arizona, -17 (285-279-283=847)
7. Washington State, -16 (286-273-289=848)
8. No. 10 Pepperdine, -15 (284-279-286=849)
9. UCLA, -11 (280-281-292=853)
10. No. 25 USC, -6 (285-280-293=858)
11. San Jose State, -4 (282-281-297=860)
12. No. 24 Utah, E (284-285-294=864)
13. Wake Forest, +7 (284-285-302=871)
14. LMU, +10 (286-293-295=874)
15. Washington, +13 (288-292-297=877)
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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