Wednesday, September 19
Lake Elmo, MN
All Day
USC
vs
Annika Intercollegiate
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Golf
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Gabriela Ruffels, Malia Nam, Alyaa Abdulghany, Allisen Corpuz and Jennifer Chang after the USC squad finished third at the season-opening ANNIKA Intercollegiate.
Nam Takes Second In Trojan Debut, USC Finishes Third At ANNIKA Intercollegiate
September 19, 2018 | Women's Golf, Features
Freshman finishes at 12-under just one back of first; Chang ties for ninth.
Freshman Malia Nam fired a final-round 3-under 69 to finish second by one stroke while sophomores Jennifer Chang and Gabriela Ruffels were also both under par to lead No. 6 USC on the final day of the ANNIKA Intercollegiate at the Royal G.C. in Lake Elmo, Minn., on Wednesday (Sept. 19).
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USC finished third at a combined 21-under 843 (282-279-282) in Justin Silverstein's debut as the Trojans' head coach, seven back of 2018 NCAA runner-up Alabama (28-under 836) and five back of UCLA (26-under 838). Texas was fourth (847) with second-round leader Duke fifth (850).
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Nam, from Kailua, Hawaii, finished second at 12-under 204 (69-66-69). After starting her day at 3-over through eight holes, she closed with six birdies over her final 12 holes, her final putt moving her to 12-under with a one-stroke lead.
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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 debut.
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Still, 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.
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Chang, who was the last USC freshman to card a 66 before Nam this week, tied for ninth at 6-under 210 (71-69-70), closing with birdies on three of the final four holes. That gives her five top 10 career finishes in her brief Trojan stint and eight straight top 15 results.
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Junior Allisen Corpuz also finished with three birdies in her last four holes, moving into a tie for 21st at 1-under 215 (71-72-72). She has 12 top 27 finishes in her last 13 events, including five in the top 11.
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Ruffels (71-73-71) also tied for 21st. Like Chang and Corpuz, she birdied 15, 17 and 18. Sophomore Alyaa Abdulghany rounded out USC's quintet with a tie for 29th at 1-over 217 (72-72-73).
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"Although we will never be satisfied with a third-place finish, I was very pleased with our total team effort this week," Silverstein said. "The entire lineup was in every single round headed into the last hole and that is the type of consistency that will help us later in the year as the golf courses get tougher.
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"Malia's performance this week was nothing short of spectacular. That leaderboard was filled with All-Americans and top-ranked WAGR players and it took a Tiger Woods-esque performance from Patty to beat her today. Malia has worked extremely hard since she arrived at USC and it'll be exciting to see just how good she can get."
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USC finished third at a combined 21-under 843 (282-279-282) in Justin Silverstein's debut as the Trojans' head coach, seven back of 2018 NCAA runner-up Alabama (28-under 836) and five back of UCLA (26-under 838). Texas was fourth (847) with second-round leader Duke fifth (850).
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Nam, from Kailua, Hawaii, finished second at 12-under 204 (69-66-69). After starting her day at 3-over through eight holes, she closed with six birdies over her final 12 holes, her final putt moving her to 12-under with a one-stroke lead.
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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 debut.
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Still, 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.
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Chang, who was the last USC freshman to card a 66 before Nam this week, tied for ninth at 6-under 210 (71-69-70), closing with birdies on three of the final four holes. That gives her five top 10 career finishes in her brief Trojan stint and eight straight top 15 results.
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Junior Allisen Corpuz also finished with three birdies in her last four holes, moving into a tie for 21st at 1-under 215 (71-72-72). She has 12 top 27 finishes in her last 13 events, including five in the top 11.
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Ruffels (71-73-71) also tied for 21st. Like Chang and Corpuz, she birdied 15, 17 and 18. Sophomore Alyaa Abdulghany rounded out USC's quintet with a tie for 29th at 1-over 217 (72-72-73).
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"Although we will never be satisfied with a third-place finish, I was very pleased with our total team effort this week," Silverstein said. "The entire lineup was in every single round headed into the last hole and that is the type of consistency that will help us later in the year as the golf courses get tougher.
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"Malia's performance this week was nothing short of spectacular. That leaderboard was filled with All-Americans and top-ranked WAGR players and it took a Tiger Woods-esque performance from Patty to beat her today. Malia has worked extremely hard since she arrived at USC and it'll be exciting to see just how good she can get."
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