2008 Woodie Awards
USC men, women starting to play through youth
Pete Dalis--Daily Trojan (U. Southern California)
Issue date: 10/8/03 Section: Sports
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(U-WIRE) LOS ANGELES - It's been the main question through one month of the 2003-2004 golf season for both the University of Southern California golf programs: Will the youth step up?
Through the first two tournaments, both the No. 13 Women of Troy and the Trojans, who dropped out of the Golfweek/Sagarin Top 25 this week, have had their bright spots. But there have been no standout individual performances yet. The best team finish between both teams has been third by the men in the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate in Jonesborough, Tenn.
But even in that tournament, USC did not have a player finish in the top 20. In fact, no individual Trojan has finished in the top 15.
USC coach Kurt Schuette said he is not concerned.
"It's not that we don't have the players," he said. "It's simply that we're not playing smart golf."
Smart golf mostly refers to keeping the ball away from trouble spots and strategically playing your way around the golf course. With the youth on this team, that has been an issue, especially after losing standouts Chris Botsford and David Oh to graduation.
How else can one explain freshman Joshua Wooding's performance during this past weekend at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Georgia? Wooding followed two porous rounds of 78 and 75 with a dazzling 7-under-par 65.
Wooding is not the only one to have performance anomalies through the first month of this season. USC's top returner, sophomore Taylor Wood, shot a career-high 84 in round one and followed it up with a 75. Ben Hayes followed up a 2-under 70 with rounds of 75 and 77.
"It's just really weird that none of us are playing consistently well," said sophomore Brad Shaw, who tied for USC's best individual finish this year in Tennessee. "It's bound to turn around."
It may be in the process of turning around for the defending national champion Women of Troy. After losing NCAA individual champion Mikaela Parmlid and 2002 U.S. Women's Amateur champion Becky Lucidi to graduation, USC came in eighth and ninth place out of 18 teams in its first two tournaments. The team's highest individual finish was English golfer Rachel Bell's tie for 17th.
That may change today, as the Women of Troy are fourth out of 15 teams at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, trailing first-place California by 10 shots, and Arizona and UCLA by nine. Bell, after rounds of 71 and 74 at Sahalee Country Club, home of the 1998 PGA Championship, is in a tie for third.
Cho is tied for fifth, one behind Bell, who is 2-over. The 5,953-yard course has been waterlogged, making the scoring conditions challenging.
Through the first two tournaments, both the No. 13 Women of Troy and the Trojans, who dropped out of the Golfweek/Sagarin Top 25 this week, have had their bright spots. But there have been no standout individual performances yet. The best team finish between both teams has been third by the men in the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate in Jonesborough, Tenn.
But even in that tournament, USC did not have a player finish in the top 20. In fact, no individual Trojan has finished in the top 15.
USC coach Kurt Schuette said he is not concerned.
"It's not that we don't have the players," he said. "It's simply that we're not playing smart golf."
Smart golf mostly refers to keeping the ball away from trouble spots and strategically playing your way around the golf course. With the youth on this team, that has been an issue, especially after losing standouts Chris Botsford and David Oh to graduation.
How else can one explain freshman Joshua Wooding's performance during this past weekend at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Georgia? Wooding followed two porous rounds of 78 and 75 with a dazzling 7-under-par 65.
Wooding is not the only one to have performance anomalies through the first month of this season. USC's top returner, sophomore Taylor Wood, shot a career-high 84 in round one and followed it up with a 75. Ben Hayes followed up a 2-under 70 with rounds of 75 and 77.
"It's just really weird that none of us are playing consistently well," said sophomore Brad Shaw, who tied for USC's best individual finish this year in Tennessee. "It's bound to turn around."
It may be in the process of turning around for the defending national champion Women of Troy. After losing NCAA individual champion Mikaela Parmlid and 2002 U.S. Women's Amateur champion Becky Lucidi to graduation, USC came in eighth and ninth place out of 18 teams in its first two tournaments. The team's highest individual finish was English golfer Rachel Bell's tie for 17th.
That may change today, as the Women of Troy are fourth out of 15 teams at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, trailing first-place California by 10 shots, and Arizona and UCLA by nine. Bell, after rounds of 71 and 74 at Sahalee Country Club, home of the 1998 PGA Championship, is in a tie for third.
Cho is tied for fifth, one behind Bell, who is 2-over. The 5,953-yard course has been waterlogged, making the scoring conditions challenging.