May 14, 2002

THIS WEEK--The No. 7 USC men's golf team travels to Albuquerque, N.M, to compete in the 2002 NCAA West Regional Championships on May 16-18 at the University of New Mexico's Championship Course (Par 72, 7,368 yards). The two-time defending Pac-10 champion Trojans are the top seed in the 27-team field. Six individuals not from those teams are also competing. The top ten teams and top two individuals from the 54-hole tournament will advance to the 2002 NCAA Championships to be held in Columbus, Ohio, on May 29-June 1.

THE FIELD--The NCAA West Regional consists of 27 teams, 18 of which are ranked in the top-50 of the Golfweek poll. Top teams from the field include (rankings in parentheses): Texas (5), USC (7), Washington (13), Fresno State (14) and Pepperdine (19),

TOURNAMENTS PAST--The Trojans finished a disappointing 12th (887) and did not advance from the 2001 NCAA West Regional Championships held in Corvallis, Ore. In 2000 in Fresno, Calif., the Trojans finished a suprise fourth (848).

SO FAR THIS YEAR--USC has three tournament wins under its belt in 2002--the Cleveland Golf Classic on March 5, the U.S. Intercollegiate on April 21 and the Pac-10 Championships on April 27. The Trojans have finished second three other times and have finished in the top 10 at every other tournament except for one.

LIVE STATS--Live stats for the tournament can be accessed through www.usctrojans.com.

FORMAT: Eighteen holes will be played Thursday, Friday and Saturday with a fixed start beginning at 7:12 a.m. MT each day from the first and 10th tees. There will be a practice round on Wednesday, May 15, at 8 a.m.

PAC-10 CHAMPIONS--The Trojans won their second-consecutive Pac-10 Championship on April 25-27 at Corvallis, Ore., shooting 1441 to defeat Stanford by 15 strokes. It was the 17th Pac-10 team title overall for the Trojans, far more than any other school in the conference. It was also the first back-to-back conference titles for Troy since 1972-1973 and its largest margin of victory at the Pac-10 championships since winning by 26 strokes over Stanford in 1975.

GOLFER OF THE YEAR: Senior Kevin Stadler was named the 2002 Pac-10 Golfer of the Year after tying for second at the conference tournament. He's the first Trojan to be named the league's golfer of the year since Sam Randolph in 1986.

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Ben Hayes took home Pac-10 Freshman of the Year honors after tying for fourth at the conference tournament. He's the second Trojan in as many years to win the award, following Hunter Mahan in 2001.

ALL-CONFERENCE TEAMS: Stadler was named All-Pac-10 first team, while Hayes, junior David Oh and sophomore Scott Oxandaboure garnered honorable mention notice.

KEVIN STADLER--The senior from Englewood, Colo., has had a superb season, leading the Trojan with a stroke average of 71.3 on his way to being named Pac-10 Golfer of the Year ... Has placed in the top five at six tournaments, including four runner up finishes ... Overall, in 10 tournaments this season, he has finished in the top 10 seven times ... Fired a career-low (for 54 holes) at the Taylor Made Red River Classic in Dallas last October with a score of 206 ... In his career, has shot 23 rounds in the 60s ... Shot a career-low round of 66 at the Ping Arizona Intercollegiate in February ... Currently ranked 13th by Golfweek ... Is the son of former USC All-American and current PGA star Craig Stadler.

USC COACH KURT SCHUETTE (Pepperdine '86)--Now finishing up his eighth season at USC as Director of Golf, Kurt Schuette has reestablished Troy as one of the top programs in the country. Under his direction, the Trojans have won back-to-back Pac-10 titles for the first time since 1972-73. His golf teams have had three top 15 NCAA finishes and have won a total of 13 team tournament titles. He has recruited some of the finest players in the country on both the men's and women's sides, including 1998 Collegiate Player of the Year Jennifer Rosales, 1999 and 2000 All-American first teamer Candie Kung, 2001 All-American second-teamer Hunter Mahan, 2002 Pac-10 Golfer of the Year Kevin Stadler and 2002 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year Ben Hayes. In his career, which includes six successful seasons at Pepperdine, Schuette has 19 tournament titles, 27 individual medals, 13 All-Americans and 20 All-Pac-10 honorees to his credit.

USC AND KURT SCHUETTE AT THE NCAA WEST REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

Year		Site			Score
2001		Corvallis, Ore.		298-300-289-887 (12th tie)
2000		Fresno, Calif.		285-275-288--848 (4th)
1999		Tucson, Ariz.		304-297-302--903 (16th)
1998		Tempe, Ariz.		303-296-304--903 (18th)
1997		Santee, Calif.		278-292-287--857 (3rd)
1996		Palo Alto, Calif.  	293-288-295--876 (5th)
1995		Albuquerque, NM  	297-290-296--883 (9th)

2002 West Regional Seedings 1.USC 2. Texas 3. Minnesota 4. Fresno State 5. Washington 6. New Mexico 7. Pepperdine 8. San Diego State 9. Arizona 10. Nevada 11. Oregon 12. Ohio State 13. UCLA 14. Washington State 15. UC Irvine 16. Pacific 17. UNLV 18. Stanford 19. Arizona State 20. Texas Tech 21. California 22. Brigham Young 23. Colorado State 24. Illinois State 25. Detroit 26. Indiana/Purdue-Indianapolis 27. Central Connecticut State

Golfweek Team Ranknings, 5/14/02

1 Georgia Tech 2 Clemson 3 Wake Forest 4 Florida 5 Texas 6 Oklahoma State 7 USC 8 Texas Christian 9 Auburn 10 Tennessee 11 Georgia 12 Oklahoma 13 N.C State 14 Washington 15 Fresno State 16 Toledo 17 Virginia Tech 18 Pepperdine 19 Augusta State 20 Baylor

Golfweek Individual Rankings, 5/14/02

1 Camilo Villegas, Florida 2 Graeme McDowell, UAB 3 D. J. Trahan, Clemson 4 Hunter Mahan, Okla. St. 5 Bill Haas, Wake Forest 6 Ryan Hybl, Georgia 7 Troy Matteson, Georgia Tech 8 Nick Watney, Fresno State 9 Oliver Wilson, Augusta St. 10 Brendan De Jonge, Va Tech 11 Kevin Haefner, Auburn 12 John Klauk, Texas 13 Kevin Stadler, USC 14 Gregg Jones, Clemson 15 Lee Williamson, Purdue 16 Kris Mikkelsen, Georgia Tech 17 David Skinns, Tennessee 18 Chris Nallen, Arizona 19 Dustin Bray, North Carolina 20 John Kidwell, Oklahoma