Top-Ranked Trojans Head To East Lake Cup To Defend Title

USC women's golf team, ranked No. 1 for the first time since 2016 and coming off back-to-back wins in head coach Justin Silverstein's first season, heads south to defend its title at the 2018 East Lake Cup, Monday through Wednesday (Oct. 29-31), at the East Lake Cup G.C. in Atlanta.

The Trojans, who reached their second straight NCAA Championships semifinal appearance in May as well as the 13^th consecutive top 5 finish, are now under Silverstein's leadership after the former Trojan associate head coach took over for Andrea Gaston, USC's long-time coach who departed Troy during the off-season to become head coach at Texas A&M.

Silverstein, who served under Gaston for four years before spending the past two seasons as the associate head coach with the USC men's squad, helped lead the USC women to the 2013 NCAA crown as well as top 5 finishes the three following seasons.

He got his first win as head coach when the Trojans won the Windy City Collegiate by five strokes earlier this month in Chicago, which also saw sophomore Gabriela Ruffels capture her first career title at 10-under 206 (69-66-71). USC notched its second win under Silverstein last week at the Stanford Intercollegiate with a commanding 15-stroke win that saw four Trojans finish in the top 10.

Now USC sets its sights on playing for its third East Lake Cup title in the fourth year of the event, joining felling 2018 NCAA Championships semifinalists Alabama (which knocked out USC), Stanford and national champion Arizona (where Silverstein went to school and began his coaching career). The men's side will feature Duke, Auburn, Alabama and Oklahoma State.

The Trojans won in the all-match play debut event in 2015, defeating Duke in the final and Baylor in the semifinals, both 4-1. USC returned last fall, downing Northwestern in the semifinals, 4-1, before taking down Stanford, 3-2, for its second East Lake Cup title.

The teams will compete in an individual stroke play competition on Monday to determine seedings for the two-round match play tournament Tuesday and Wednesday. Action will begin at 7:55 a.m. PT on Monday and at 8:05 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.

Live tournament coverage of the East Lake Cup will air on Golf Channel from 12-3 p.m. PT Monday-Wednesday and will replay in primetime. In addition, Golf Central and Morning Drive will be live and on-site at East Lake. You can also stream the tournament on the Golf Channel app.

The Trojans will repeat their lineup for the first time this season, going with sophomores Alyaa Abdulghany, Jennifer Chang, Amelia Garvey, Ruffels and freshman Malia Nam. Only Abdulghany played in USC's win last year at East Lake.

Ruffels, Chang, Abdulghany and Garvey as well as junior Allisen Corpuz were all starters on USC's squad last year that ultimately won five tournaments en route to a semifinal finish at the NCAAs, where it fell to eventual runner-up Alabama.

In addition to play at East Lake, USC is sending four individuals to play at the UC Irvine Invitational, Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 29-30). Juniors Divya Manthena and Aiko Leong and freshman Georgia Carr and Katherine Muzi will play 36 holes Monday, 18 Tuesday. It is the collegiate debut for both Muzi and Carr.

2018-19 Highlights
* USC's wins at the Windy City and the Stanford Intercollegiate were the first two wins for new head coach Justin Silverstein. They are USC's first back-to-back wins since winning three straight in the spring. The Trojans won five times last season.

* USC's first round 12-under 272 at the Stanford Intercollegiate is tied for the fourth-best round in program history. Only a 270 at the 2014 NCAAs and a pair of 271s at the 2015 ANNIKA Intercollegiate and the 2015 Arizona Wildcat Invitational have been better. The 272 ties USC's 2013 Stanford Intercollegiate best effort.

* Troy's 15-stroke win at Stanford was its biggest margin of victory since winning the Gold Rush at Old Ranch C.C. by 18 strokes in February of 2016.

* Sophomore Gabi Ruffels posted her first collegiate victory at the Windy City Collegiate at 10-under 206 (69-66-71), one stroke better than the Sun Devils' Raquel Olmos. Tied after 11 holes, Ruffels went ahead by two strokes with a birdie on 12 while Olmos bogeyed the hole. Olmos pulled to within a stroke with a birdie on 15, but both players parred the final three holes, Ruffels clinching the win with a 4-foot putt. Her final round came on the heels of her 36-hole 9-under opening day, her second round 66 a personal best.

* Freshman Malia Nam almost won her debut collegiate event, taking second at 12-under 204 (69-66-69) at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate. After starting her final round at 3-over through eight holes, she closed with six birdies over her final 12 holes, her last putt moving her to 12-under with a one-stroke lead. It took a Herculean effort by UCLA's Patty Tavatanakit to beat her. The Bruin, who started the day at 4-under, birdied seven holes in a row on the back nine and closed with an eagle on 18 to out-do Nam's impressive freshman start.

* Nam's 12-under tied her for the second-most under par performance in a 54-hole event in school history, one off the school mark on a 72-par course, and she is just one of five Trojans to post a 204 or lower. Only Irene Cho's 2006 13-under 203 has been better at USC. The last Trojan to post a 204 was then sophomore Karen Chung, who also did it at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, though at Reunion Resort.

* Nam opened her career with four straight rounds in the 60s. Only four Trojans have had at least eight rounds under 70 in a season, and she already has five now after three events. Nam has also started her career with three straight top 11 finishes.

* Sophomore Jennifer Chang finished her freshman season with seven straight top 15 results and has extended the streak to 10 with a tie for ninth at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate at 6-under 210 (71-69-70), a tie for 11^th at the Windy City at par 216 (73-72-71) and a tie for fifth at the Stanford Intercollegiate at 4-under 209 (69-71-69).

* Sophomore Alyaa Abdulghany finished fourth at the Stanford Intercollegiate at 5-under 208 (67-71-70), her first round and 54-hole finish both collegiate bests.

* Sophomore Amelia Garvey tied for eighth at the Stanford Intercollegiate at 3-under 210 (69-72-69). Her pair of 69s are her collegiate lows and her finish was a collegiate best over 54 holes.

2017-2018 Superlatives
Chang earned WGCA All-American second team honors as a freshman last year as well as All-Pac-12 first team honors, leading USC in stroke average (72.43, 17^th best in school history) after joining the team for the spring season. She closed the season with seven consecutive top 15 finishes, including one win at the Silverado Showdown and three other top six finishes.

Corpuz claimed WGCA All-American and All-Pac-12 honorable mention notice as a sophomore, finishing second on the squad in stroke average (73.00). Corpuz, whose four rounds in the 60s tied with Chang for most on the team, finished the season with four top 10 results, eight top 17 finishes, including a spring streak of six in a row, and finished tied for 27^th or better in 11 of 12 outings. She had 10 rounds under par and 14 rounds of par or better. Her 68 in the single stroke play round of the SDSU March Mayhem led the field.

Abdulghany also earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors and finished third on the team in stroke average (73.91), playing all 32 rounds on the season, as did Corpuz. Abdulghany posted a trio of top 10 finishes, seven in the top 19 and nine inside the top 30. She had five rounds under par on the season and nine of par or better.

Ruffels played 23 rounds as a freshman last year, posting a pair of top 7 finishes and three in the top 23. She joined Chang and Garvey with spring starts to their 2018 freshman seasons, all part of USC's postseason run.

Also back this season are juniors Divya Manthena and Leong, who both saw action last year. Manthena, in fact, was a starter on a pair of fall wins.

Nam, from Kailua, Hawaii, who will make her USC debut this week, is joined by two other freshman in Katherine Muzi from Walnut, Calif., and Georgia Carr, from Milltown, Ireland.

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Players Mentioned

Alyaa Abdulghany

Georgia Carr

Jennifer Chang

Allisen Corpuz

Amelia Garvey

Aiko Leong

Divya Manthena

Katherine Muzi

Malia Nam

Gabriela Ruffels