Wednesday, May 8
Cle Elum, WA
All Day
USC
vs
NCAA Regionals
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
USC No. 1 women's golf team won the NCAA Cle Elum Regional by 15 strokes.
No. 1 USC Completes Dominating Wire-To-Wire Win At NCAA Cle Elum Regional
May 08, 2019 | Women's Golf, Features
Sophomore Jennifer Chang birdies 18 for come-from-behind win at 11-under.
Sophomore Jennifer Chang fired a 4-under 68 while sophomore Alyaa Abdulghany and freshman Malia Nam signed for a pair of 69s as the No. 1 USC women's golf team completed a dominating wire-to-wire performance to win the 2019 NCAA Cle Elum (Wash.) Regional at the Tumble Creek Club at Suncadia Resort on Wednesday (May 8) and officially punched its ticket to the NCAA Championships final field.
Chang put an exclamation point on the week by sinking her six-foot birdie putt on 18 to clinch a one-stroke win at 11-under 205 (70-67-68) for her second first of the season.
The Pac-12 champion Trojans won for the seventh time this year while capturing its NCAA best 13th regional crown at a combined 20-under 844 (281-285-278). Host Washington took second at 5-under 859 (285-293-281) while Northwestern was third at even 864 (284-302-278).
Arkansas finished fourth at 5-over 869 (287-296-286), San Jose State took fifth at 8-over 872 (289-293-290) while UCF was sixth at (290-298-286). Ohio State finished one stroke out of a playoff at 11-over 875.
The six teams from Cle Elum will join the top six teams from the remaining three regionals at the national championships May 17-22 at The Blessings G.C. in Fayetteville, Ark. USC advances out of NCAA Regional play for the 22nd year in a row in its 28th consecutive NCAA appearance.
"Patience has been a staple of this team all season and we showed it again this week with a consistent three days of play," USC first-year head coach Justin Silverstein said. "I'm really proud of the girls for staying focused for 54 holes and playing at a high level on a hard course. We've checked off a key goal of ours, and now there's one more to go."
USC followed a conference title with a regional win for the fifth time in program history, repeating the feats from 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2016. In 2008 and 2013, Troy went on to win the NCAA title as well.
After putting four Trojans in the top 10 en route to the Pac-12 title, USC featured three in the top 10 this week and four in the top 15, led by Chang.
The sophomore, USC's first two-time season winner since Kyung Kim in 2014, was 2-under at the turn but a bogey on 13 left her two strokes back of Central Florida's Ana Laura Collado, who was already done. Chang, however, birdied 14 and 15 to catch Collado and sank her birdie putt on 18 for the win. Washington's Rino Sasaki also birdied 18 to tie Collado for second.
"I'm so proud of the team and our performance this week," Chang said. "We knew that anything could happen in regionals but we each played our game and it turned out in our favor.
"I didn't know what to expect going into this week but I knew that I just had to stick to my game plan each day and stay patient. I think this is probably one of the best rounds I've had in a tournament so it's definitely a confidence booster going into nationals."
Abdulghany remained one of the hottest players in the country, tying for seventh at 5-under 211 (70-72-69). She matched her finish from Pac-12s and its her third seventh in the last four events and fifth straight in the top 13.
"I'm really proud of the team this week, as I always am," Abdulghany said. "We were striving to stay patient and play steady and this week we've done that. Tumble Creek was a tough course, especially when the wind picks up. All in all, we got it done for regionals, but we've got one more to go."
Nam tied for ninth at 4-under 212 (7370-69), her final round tying Chang for team-high honors in rounds in the 60s with seven. The freshman was 1-under before bogeys on 9 and 10. But she closed with four birdies over her final six holes to secure her sixth top 10 this year and eighth in the top 12.
Sophomore Gabriela Ruffels tied for 15th at 1-over 217 (69-76-72), mixing three birdies against one double and one bogey. It is her ninth top 21 this year. Junior Allisen Corpuz rounded out USC's efforts with a tie for 55th at 9-over 225 (72-78-75).
The Trojans' seven wins tie for the second-most in program history and are the most since the 2014 squad won nine events. Silverstein also becomes the first NCAA Division I women's golf head coach to win seven tournaments in his first season as a head coach.
Chang put an exclamation point on the week by sinking her six-foot birdie putt on 18 to clinch a one-stroke win at 11-under 205 (70-67-68) for her second first of the season.
The Pac-12 champion Trojans won for the seventh time this year while capturing its NCAA best 13th regional crown at a combined 20-under 844 (281-285-278). Host Washington took second at 5-under 859 (285-293-281) while Northwestern was third at even 864 (284-302-278).
Arkansas finished fourth at 5-over 869 (287-296-286), San Jose State took fifth at 8-over 872 (289-293-290) while UCF was sixth at (290-298-286). Ohio State finished one stroke out of a playoff at 11-over 875.
The six teams from Cle Elum will join the top six teams from the remaining three regionals at the national championships May 17-22 at The Blessings G.C. in Fayetteville, Ark. USC advances out of NCAA Regional play for the 22nd year in a row in its 28th consecutive NCAA appearance.
"Patience has been a staple of this team all season and we showed it again this week with a consistent three days of play," USC first-year head coach Justin Silverstein said. "I'm really proud of the girls for staying focused for 54 holes and playing at a high level on a hard course. We've checked off a key goal of ours, and now there's one more to go."
USC followed a conference title with a regional win for the fifth time in program history, repeating the feats from 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2016. In 2008 and 2013, Troy went on to win the NCAA title as well.
After putting four Trojans in the top 10 en route to the Pac-12 title, USC featured three in the top 10 this week and four in the top 15, led by Chang.
The sophomore, USC's first two-time season winner since Kyung Kim in 2014, was 2-under at the turn but a bogey on 13 left her two strokes back of Central Florida's Ana Laura Collado, who was already done. Chang, however, birdied 14 and 15 to catch Collado and sank her birdie putt on 18 for the win. Washington's Rino Sasaki also birdied 18 to tie Collado for second.
"I'm so proud of the team and our performance this week," Chang said. "We knew that anything could happen in regionals but we each played our game and it turned out in our favor.
"I didn't know what to expect going into this week but I knew that I just had to stick to my game plan each day and stay patient. I think this is probably one of the best rounds I've had in a tournament so it's definitely a confidence booster going into nationals."
Abdulghany remained one of the hottest players in the country, tying for seventh at 5-under 211 (70-72-69). She matched her finish from Pac-12s and its her third seventh in the last four events and fifth straight in the top 13.
"I'm really proud of the team this week, as I always am," Abdulghany said. "We were striving to stay patient and play steady and this week we've done that. Tumble Creek was a tough course, especially when the wind picks up. All in all, we got it done for regionals, but we've got one more to go."
Nam tied for ninth at 4-under 212 (7370-69), her final round tying Chang for team-high honors in rounds in the 60s with seven. The freshman was 1-under before bogeys on 9 and 10. But she closed with four birdies over her final six holes to secure her sixth top 10 this year and eighth in the top 12.
Sophomore Gabriela Ruffels tied for 15th at 1-over 217 (69-76-72), mixing three birdies against one double and one bogey. It is her ninth top 21 this year. Junior Allisen Corpuz rounded out USC's efforts with a tie for 55th at 9-over 225 (72-78-75).
The Trojans' seven wins tie for the second-most in program history and are the most since the 2014 squad won nine events. Silverstein also becomes the first NCAA Division I women's golf head coach to win seven tournaments in his first season as a head coach.
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