No. 2 USC Heads To Edean Ihlanfeldt
September 30, 2010 | Women's Golf
Sept. 30, 2010
The USC women's golf team, ranked No. 2 in Golf World's first 2010-2011 regular season poll and coming off of two third-place finishes in two stacked tournaments, heads to the Northwest to play in the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, Monday through Wednesday (Oct. 4-6), at the Tacoma (Wash.) Country and Golf Club.
The Women of Troy, under 15th-year head coach Andrea Gaston, have their long-term sights set on challenging for the program's third NCAA title despite losing a pair of All-Americans from last year's NCAA second-place team, Belen Mozo and Jennifer Song.
The Edean Ihlanfeldt field includes USC (2), Pepperdine (19), Stanford (25), California (17), UC Davis, Gonzaga, Idaho, New Mexico State, Oregon (13), Oregon State, San Francisco, San Jose State, Washington (fielding two teams) and Washington State. Rankings are from Golf World.
Play begins on the 6,078-yard, par 72 course at 9 a.m. (PST) Monday and Tuesday off the 1st and 10th tees and at 9 a.m. Wednesday off the 1st and 10th tees.
USC has won the event, which began in 1981, seven times (more than any other school), most recently in 2007. That was also the same year Belen Mozo tied for first, the sixth time a Trojan has won the event or tied for first.
Live results will be available at Golfstat.com.
Featured on this year's USC squad is three-time All-American senior Lizette Salas, part of USC's 2008 title team, as well as junior transfer Lisa McCloskey, an All-American at Pepperdine the last two years. McCloskey reached the final of the 108th Women's North & South Amateur Championship earlier this summer. Both players are among Golf World's "Top 10 Women's Golf Collegiate Players to Watch" in 2010-11.
McCloskey is off to a fast start as a Trojan. She tied for fourth at the 2010 Fall Preview at 5-under 211 (74-70-67) and tied for fourth again at the Mason Rudolph Championship at 7-under 209 (70-72-67).
As for Salas, she was third at the 2010 Fall Preview with a 6-under 210 (70-70-70) and tied for 21st at the Mason Rudolph Championship at 2-under 214 (76-68-70).
Also back are junior Inah Park and sophomore Cyna Rodriguez, both of whom played big roles during USC's 2010 NCAA Championships title chase.
Rodriguez has a pair of top 30 finishes in the opening events, tying for 30th at 4-over 220 (72-70-78) at the Fall Preview and tying for 26th at the Mason Rudolph Championship at par 216 (72-72-72). Park made her season debut at the Mason Rudolph, tying for 23rd at 1-under 215 (71-75-69).
Joining McCloskey as newcomers to the squad are talented freshmen Rachel Morris and Sophia Popov. Morris won the Pacific Northwest Amateur in Clarkston, Wash., this summer while Popov, from Germany, won the 2010 International European Ladies Amateur Championship. Both debuted as Trojans at the Fall Preview. Morris played very well, taking 18th at par 216 (73-72-71) while Popov tied for 67th at 12-over 228 (75-76-77). Morris was 78th at the Mason Rudolph.
Including the 2003 and 2008 NCAA titles, USC has finished in the NCAA Championships' top 4 in six of the past eight years. In fact, the Trojans, who finished second in 2010 (by one stroke) and third in 2009, have reached the NCAA Championships 13 times in a row under Gaston and have been in the top 7 10 times.
Players Mentioned
