Sunday, February 9
Palos Verdes, Calif.
All Day
USC
vs
Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
/ Women's Golf
Gabriela Ruffels
Photo by: Erin Chang
No. 4 USC Kicks Off Spring Slate At Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
February 07, 2020 | Women's Golf, Features
Trojans looking for fifth win at tournament, first of season.
The No. 4 USC women's golf team, a seven-time winner last season with seven golfers back who have started -- including four All-Americans – kicks off the spring season at the annual Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, Sunday through Tuesday (Feb. 9-11), at the Palos Verdes G.C.
The field includes Auburn, Arizona, Arizona State, Duke, Florida, Kent State, host Ohio State, Oregon, Pepperdine, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Washington
Play begins at 9 a.m. Sunday and Monday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Results will be available at Golfstat.com.
The starting lineup will feature senior Allisen Corpuz, juniors Alyaa Abdulghany, Gabriela Ruffels and Amelia Garvey as well as sophomore Malia Nam. Senior Aiko Leong will play individually.
USC has won the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge four times, most recently in 2017 when the Trojans captured the event by one stroke with a tournament record 4-over 856. In the previous victory, the Trojans won in 2014 at a combined 14-over 866 while then sophomore Annie Park ran away with the individual title at 6-under 207. That was Troy's best individual effort at the event and one off the tournament record.
The Trojans, under the guidance of second-year head coach Justin Silverstein and first-year assistant coach Katie Mitchell, will now feature a starting lineup without junior Jennifer Chang, who has decided to forgo the remainder of her collegiate eligibility to play professionally.
Chang, who earned her LPGA Tour card on Nov. 2 with a tie for ninth in the LPGA Q-Series, was a first-team All-American last year. The Trojans, however, still have four All-Americans on the roster including second-teamers Ruffels and Nam and honorable mention picks Abdulghany and Garvey.
FALL RECAP
* Senior Aiko Leong led USC in its season opener at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, posting a career-best tie for sixth at 3-under 213 (74-66-73) with a career-best 66 in the second round. The Trojans finished fifth.
* The Trojans then finished second at the Windy City Collegiate at 11-under 853 (286-282-285), three back of first. Senior Allisen Corpuz (70-70-70) and junior Jennifer Chang (70-71-69) tied for third at 6-under 210.
* USC tied for third at the Stanford Intercollegiate at 4-under 848 (282-285-281) and was fourth at the Pac-12 Preview at 1-under 875 (290-290-295).
* Chang, following a tie for eighth in USC's season opener, had posted six top 8 finishes in her last seven starts dating back to last season. Chang's final round gave her 12 career rounds in the 60s, tied for eighth on USC's career chart.
* Corpuz's 6-under performance at the Windy City was a career-best under par over 54 holes.
* Corpuz leads USC with a 71.08 stroke average (with Chang now turning pro). She registered an impressive streak of nine straight rounds of par or better spanning the four spring events.
* Corpuz led USC at Stanford in fourth at 4-under 209 (70-70-69) as well as at the Pac-12 Preview, tying for seventh at 4-under 215 (70-71-74).
* Corpuz's back-to-back top 4 finishes at the Windy City and Stanford marked the second time she's had back-to-back top 4s and the first since her sophomore season. Her three top 10 finishes this fall were half of her career total entering this season.
* Junior Alyaa Abdulghany posted a season-best tie for eighth at Stanford at 2-under 211 (70-72-69) thanks to her fourth round under par of the fall. She is second on the team with a stroke average of 72.44.
* During winter break, Abdulghany travelled to Victoria, Australia, where she won the Australian Master of the Amateurs Championship on Jan. 10. Abdulghany, the top-ranked Malaysian amateur in the world, finished in a three-way tie for first at 2-under 286 (72-70-71-73). She tapped in a three-footer on 18 – her third birdie on the hole of the tournament -- to join the three-woman playoff and then birdied the first playoff hole after reaching the par 5 in two.
* Junior teammate Amelia Garvey, the top ranked amateur from New Zealand, tied for 20th at 11-over 299 (78-76-70-75).
* Sophomore Malia Nam had a pair of top 15 finishes in two events this season. She tied for 13th at par 213 (70-72-71) at Stanford and tied for 15th at the Windy City Collegiate at par 216 (74-72-70).
* Junior Gabriela Ruffels missed USC's event at the Windy City Collegiate while playing in the Japan Women's Open, although she missed the cut.
2019 SUMMER SUCCESS
The USC women's golf team, No. 1 for much of the 2018-19 season, had a huge off-season led by junior Gabriela Ruffels winning the 2019 U.S. Amateur and the 2019 North & South Amateur.
Ruffels, on a hot streak unmatched in amateur golf this year, used three birdies over the final four holes to defeat Stanford's Albane Valenzuela, 1up, to win the 119th U.S. Women's Amateur on Aug. 11 at Old Waverly G.C. in West Point, Miss.
Ruffels won the North & South Amateur Championship in July with five straight match play wins and then made it an amazing 11 match play victories in a row, defeating six top fellow amateurs to become USC's fourth U.S. Amateur winner. She joined USC's previous title holders in Jennifer Song (2009), Becky Lucidi (2002) and Jill McGill (1993).
Ruffels won the North & South with a 1up semifinal win and a 2up win over fell Aussie Doey Choi in the final.
She joined Jennifer Chang and Malia Nam in the Arnold Palmer Cup. Ruffels, finishing 2-1-1 during the event, helped the International side defeat the U.S. Overall, USC's trio finished 6-3-3 in their combined action.
2018-2019 HIGHLIGHTS
* USC advanced to the 2019 NCAA Championships match play last season, extending its national-best streak of top 5 finishes to 14 straight. USC advanced to the NCAA Championships match play bracket for the fifth year in a row since it was instituted, one of just two teams to do so (Stanford is the other).
* USC's wins at the Windy City, Stanford Intercollegiate, East Lake Cup, Clover Cup, PING/ASU, Pac-12 Championships and NCAA Cle Elum Regional were the first seven for then-new head coach Justin Silverstein.
* Troy's seven wins matches its total in 2013 for the second most in program history behind only its record nine wins in 2014. USC has now won at least four tournaments in six of the past seven season.
* Chang, Ruffels, Nam and Garvey all earned 2019 All-Pac-12 first team honors, the second career honor for Chang. Abdulghany and Corpuz claimed honorable mention notice, the second in a row for both.
USC came close to holding both the U.S. and Ladies British Am trophies as junior Amelia Garvey was a finalist in the latter in June, falling in the final on the 18th hole, 1 down. Garvey was among the top 3 in stroke play and won five matches to reach the final.
Garvey joined Ruffels and teammates Allisen Corpuz, Malia Nam and Jennifer Chang in the match play of the North & South. Corpuz was medalist in the event at 3-under 139 and reached the quarterfinals, as did Chang. In the U.S. Am, Ruffels was joined by Corpuz and Nam again, Corpuz reaching the round of 16.
Junior Alyaa Abdulghany was the the low amateur at the Women's California State Open, taking second overall, and followed it with the title at the SCGA Women's Amateur while sophomore Katherine Muzi posted a top 5 finish.
The field includes Auburn, Arizona, Arizona State, Duke, Florida, Kent State, host Ohio State, Oregon, Pepperdine, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Washington
Play begins at 9 a.m. Sunday and Monday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Results will be available at Golfstat.com.
The starting lineup will feature senior Allisen Corpuz, juniors Alyaa Abdulghany, Gabriela Ruffels and Amelia Garvey as well as sophomore Malia Nam. Senior Aiko Leong will play individually.
USC has won the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge four times, most recently in 2017 when the Trojans captured the event by one stroke with a tournament record 4-over 856. In the previous victory, the Trojans won in 2014 at a combined 14-over 866 while then sophomore Annie Park ran away with the individual title at 6-under 207. That was Troy's best individual effort at the event and one off the tournament record.
The Trojans, under the guidance of second-year head coach Justin Silverstein and first-year assistant coach Katie Mitchell, will now feature a starting lineup without junior Jennifer Chang, who has decided to forgo the remainder of her collegiate eligibility to play professionally.
Chang, who earned her LPGA Tour card on Nov. 2 with a tie for ninth in the LPGA Q-Series, was a first-team All-American last year. The Trojans, however, still have four All-Americans on the roster including second-teamers Ruffels and Nam and honorable mention picks Abdulghany and Garvey.
FALL RECAP
* Senior Aiko Leong led USC in its season opener at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate, posting a career-best tie for sixth at 3-under 213 (74-66-73) with a career-best 66 in the second round. The Trojans finished fifth.
* The Trojans then finished second at the Windy City Collegiate at 11-under 853 (286-282-285), three back of first. Senior Allisen Corpuz (70-70-70) and junior Jennifer Chang (70-71-69) tied for third at 6-under 210.
* USC tied for third at the Stanford Intercollegiate at 4-under 848 (282-285-281) and was fourth at the Pac-12 Preview at 1-under 875 (290-290-295).
* Chang, following a tie for eighth in USC's season opener, had posted six top 8 finishes in her last seven starts dating back to last season. Chang's final round gave her 12 career rounds in the 60s, tied for eighth on USC's career chart.
* Corpuz's 6-under performance at the Windy City was a career-best under par over 54 holes.
* Corpuz leads USC with a 71.08 stroke average (with Chang now turning pro). She registered an impressive streak of nine straight rounds of par or better spanning the four spring events.
* Corpuz led USC at Stanford in fourth at 4-under 209 (70-70-69) as well as at the Pac-12 Preview, tying for seventh at 4-under 215 (70-71-74).
* Corpuz's back-to-back top 4 finishes at the Windy City and Stanford marked the second time she's had back-to-back top 4s and the first since her sophomore season. Her three top 10 finishes this fall were half of her career total entering this season.
* Junior Alyaa Abdulghany posted a season-best tie for eighth at Stanford at 2-under 211 (70-72-69) thanks to her fourth round under par of the fall. She is second on the team with a stroke average of 72.44.
* During winter break, Abdulghany travelled to Victoria, Australia, where she won the Australian Master of the Amateurs Championship on Jan. 10. Abdulghany, the top-ranked Malaysian amateur in the world, finished in a three-way tie for first at 2-under 286 (72-70-71-73). She tapped in a three-footer on 18 – her third birdie on the hole of the tournament -- to join the three-woman playoff and then birdied the first playoff hole after reaching the par 5 in two.
* Junior teammate Amelia Garvey, the top ranked amateur from New Zealand, tied for 20th at 11-over 299 (78-76-70-75).
* Sophomore Malia Nam had a pair of top 15 finishes in two events this season. She tied for 13th at par 213 (70-72-71) at Stanford and tied for 15th at the Windy City Collegiate at par 216 (74-72-70).
* Junior Gabriela Ruffels missed USC's event at the Windy City Collegiate while playing in the Japan Women's Open, although she missed the cut.
2019 SUMMER SUCCESS
The USC women's golf team, No. 1 for much of the 2018-19 season, had a huge off-season led by junior Gabriela Ruffels winning the 2019 U.S. Amateur and the 2019 North & South Amateur.
Ruffels, on a hot streak unmatched in amateur golf this year, used three birdies over the final four holes to defeat Stanford's Albane Valenzuela, 1up, to win the 119th U.S. Women's Amateur on Aug. 11 at Old Waverly G.C. in West Point, Miss.
Ruffels won the North & South Amateur Championship in July with five straight match play wins and then made it an amazing 11 match play victories in a row, defeating six top fellow amateurs to become USC's fourth U.S. Amateur winner. She joined USC's previous title holders in Jennifer Song (2009), Becky Lucidi (2002) and Jill McGill (1993).
Ruffels won the North & South with a 1up semifinal win and a 2up win over fell Aussie Doey Choi in the final.
She joined Jennifer Chang and Malia Nam in the Arnold Palmer Cup. Ruffels, finishing 2-1-1 during the event, helped the International side defeat the U.S. Overall, USC's trio finished 6-3-3 in their combined action.
2018-2019 HIGHLIGHTS
* USC advanced to the 2019 NCAA Championships match play last season, extending its national-best streak of top 5 finishes to 14 straight. USC advanced to the NCAA Championships match play bracket for the fifth year in a row since it was instituted, one of just two teams to do so (Stanford is the other).
* USC's wins at the Windy City, Stanford Intercollegiate, East Lake Cup, Clover Cup, PING/ASU, Pac-12 Championships and NCAA Cle Elum Regional were the first seven for then-new head coach Justin Silverstein.
* Troy's seven wins matches its total in 2013 for the second most in program history behind only its record nine wins in 2014. USC has now won at least four tournaments in six of the past seven season.
* Chang, Ruffels, Nam and Garvey all earned 2019 All-Pac-12 first team honors, the second career honor for Chang. Abdulghany and Corpuz claimed honorable mention notice, the second in a row for both.
USC came close to holding both the U.S. and Ladies British Am trophies as junior Amelia Garvey was a finalist in the latter in June, falling in the final on the 18th hole, 1 down. Garvey was among the top 3 in stroke play and won five matches to reach the final.
Garvey joined Ruffels and teammates Allisen Corpuz, Malia Nam and Jennifer Chang in the match play of the North & South. Corpuz was medalist in the event at 3-under 139 and reached the quarterfinals, as did Chang. In the U.S. Am, Ruffels was joined by Corpuz and Nam again, Corpuz reaching the round of 16.
Junior Alyaa Abdulghany was the the low amateur at the Women's California State Open, taking second overall, and followed it with the title at the SCGA Women's Amateur while sophomore Katherine Muzi posted a top 5 finish.
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