No. 4 USC women’s golf, after a scorching start, fell from a tie for first place to finish fourth overall at the Pac-12 Preview at the Nanea Golf Club on the Big Island of Hawaii this week.
The Trojans were led by freshman Bailey Shoemaker in the first round, who recorded a 6-under-par 67 to card the best score of the day out of 60 golfers.
“It was a super clean round,” head coach Justin Silverstein said. “It was only her second time seeing the golf course. ... So, to be able to put up a number like that, with no bogeys is really, really impressive.”
This put USC in a tie for first place with Arizona at the end of the first round. Junior Amari Avery and senior Brianna Navarrosa both posted scores below par at 70 and 72, respectively.
“We had a really good first round,” Silverstein said. “It was the first stroke play event as a team in almost four months.”
Individually, three Trojans finished in the top 10 after the second day. Avery’s eagle on the par-5 sixth hole and two birdies on the second and 14th holes counteracted against her two bogeys for a 1-under-par 72.
During her sophomore season, Avery placed No. 8 in USC history for average strokes per round (71.76) and tied for first for the most rounds in the 60s in a single season (11).
“[Avery] has been great,” Silverstein said. “Apart from her ball striking, she’s really improved her mental skill; she’s able to stay much more present during rounds, accept results as they happen and not let them affect what happens after that.”
Shoemaker posted a 3-over-par 76 in the second round. Her performance was disrupted by two setbacks on the second and 15th holes, where she carded triple bogeys after previously recording pars on the opening day.
“The golf course definitely got harder. First day was the easiest day, hole locations were a little easier and the course was a little softer. It got faster and firmer as the week went on,” Silverstein said. “I don’t think we adjusted well enough. A lot of that falls on me and Tiffany [Joh] as staff, but we needed to make quick adjustments to how the ball was reacting and how fast the greens were.”
Despite a drop in its performance, USC still managed to stay in third place out of 12 teams after the second round. While UCLA and Stanford shared the top spot, they held a narrow one-stroke lead over the Trojans.
USC faced a challenging final round, finishing the day nine strokes over par as a team. Avery shot 3 under par, giving her a T-2 finish individually at a tournament total of 7-under-par. Shoemaker’s 5-over-par final round brought her three-day total to 2 over par, while Navarrosa’s 77 placed her at 3 over par overall.
Rounding out the Trojans’ scoring were senior Christine Wang and sophomore Catherine Park, carding 7-over-par and 10-over-par tournament totals, respectively.
“I think one thing that did hurt us a little bit is that it’s been so wet [in Los Angeles]. We’ve seen kind of wet slow golf courses the past few weeks,” Silverstein said. “And in Hawaii, it was pretty dry and pretty quick. So I think it was a vast difference from what we’d seen at home. But that’s beyond anybody’s control.”
The Trojans concluded the Pac-12 Preview with a team score of 3 over par, leaving them in fourth place after battling through three days of competition. Now, they’ll enjoy a two-week break before returning to action at the Juli Inkster at Meadow Club Invitational in Fairfax, California, on March 4 and 5.