Men’s Golf | September 19, 2024
LOS ANGELES – USC men’s golf hopes to build off its opening weekend victory as it competes in a 17-team tournament at the William H. Tucker Invitational Friday, Sept. 20 through Saturday, Sept. 21, at the UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M.
COMPETITIVE SLATE: *New Mexico, Arkansas State, Colorado, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State, GCU, Long Beach State, LMU, New Mexico State, Oral Roberts, San Diego State, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Stetson, UNLV, USC, UTEP
*Host School
WHERE: UNM Championship Course – Albuquerque, N.M. (Par 72, 7,546 yards).
WHEN: The two-day event will begin Friday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 a.m. PT, with the second round following the conclusion of the first. The third round will be played on Saturday, Sept. 21, starting at 7:45 a.m.
LIVE SCORING: Live results can be found on Golfstat here.
LINEUP:
Individual: Jack Buchanan
Aurilia opened the season in career-defining fashion, setting his single-round career best (65) and posting his best career tournament finish (runner-up). The senior started the season with two straight rounds in the 60’s (69-65) and wrapped up his first tournament at nine-under par. The senior has nine career rounds in the 60s and has two top-ten finishes.
Safa posted his first top-ten finish at USC, the second of his career, at the Southern Dunes Invitational. The junior posted his seventh round in the 60s for his career, with a 67 in the second round. That tied his personal best round for the Trojans, as he has posted that score five other times. Safa competed at the Tucker Invitational last year and finished tied for 24th at one-under par.
Jerge moved up a spot in the lineup from last week, as he began his USC career with a top-ten finish. The sophomore tied Safa for 8th, as they both were five-under par. Jerge rounded out the tournament with a 69 (-3), producing three straight rounds of par or better.
Rivera is off to a fast start, as he played in his first collegiate tournament since last fall, finishing at two-under par overall, carding a 70-69-75 to tie him for 17th on the leaderboard. His second-round 69 (-3) gave him 20 career rounds in the 60s, tying him for 20th most in program history. Rivera tied Safa for the best score at last year’s Tucker Invitational, as they were both one-under-par and tied for 24th.
Dominguez opened his season with a top-25 finish, the second time in his career, as he was even par. The sophomore posted a 70-74-72 as he ranked fifth in the lineup after their first tournament this season. Dominguez played in this tournament last season; he tied for 58th as the Trojans were 9th out of 20 teams.
QUOTABLE:
Hear from Coach –
“This is a great second tournament for us, because it is a place we’ve competed at last year and we’ll have a good idea of what to prepare for,” head coach Mark Hankins said. “New Mexico’s event has 17 teams in it, so it’s a large field. Gives us an opportunity to compete against a full field, test our team depth and ability to focus for 3 rounds again. The guys have been working hard this week but now we need to flip back into competition mode like we did so well last week.”
Hear from Jack Jerge –
“It was a good start to the season, it was a course I’m very comfortable with, so it was a nice solid start to the year and hopefully it can give us some momentum into this next event.”
Hear from Gavin Aurilia –
“New Mexico is a course most of us have played, so just try and use that to our advantage, feel comfortable and ride the momentum a bit.”
FOLLOW THE TROJANS
For more information on the USC men’s golf team, a complete schedule, and results, please visit USCTrojans.com. Fans of the Trojans can follow the team on Instagram and on X @USCMensGolf.