Feb. 8, 2013

The No. 1 USC women's golf team, whose active streak of seven consecutive NCAA top 5 finishes leads the country, resumes the 2012-2013 season with its first spring semester action at the annual Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, Monday through Wednesday (Feb. 11-13), at Palos Verdes C.C. in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

The 16-team field includes host Ohio State, USC, Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Colorado, Duke, Florida, Michigan State, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pepperdine, Texas, UCLA, Wake Forest and Washington.

USC is a two-time winner of the event in 2010 and 2011 while Jennifer Rosales (1999) and Irene Cho (2006) are Troy's two individual winners.

Live results will be available at Golfstat.com.

USC STAT NOTES
Sophia Popov is USC's active career leader in rounds in the 60s with 12 (including one this year). USC's record is 15 (held by Jennifer Song). The school record for a season is eight. She is also Troy's active leader in wins with four, one off the school career record of five, shared by Irene Cho and Mikaela Parmlid ... The Trojans are looking for their second win this year after claiming the last event of the fall schedule. USC posted two wins last season, marking the sixth time in the past seven seasons they won at least that many events in a year, the seventh time in the last 10 and the 10th time in the last 14. Troy won five times in 2008, four each in 2003, 2010 and 2011 and three times in 1999.

2012-2013 Event Recaps

Stanford Intercollegiate, Oct. 19-21
Freshman Kyung Kim followed her second-round 66 with a final-round 68 to win her first collegiate title while leading No. 3 USC to a four-stroke team win at the Stanford (Calif.) Intercollegiate. USC finished its three-event fall schedule at a combined 5-over 857 (286-285-286) at Stanford, four better than second-place Washington (861) and 11 better than the host Cardinal (868). Kim, who claimed the solo lead with her 5-under second round, maintained her momentum in the final round with a 3-under round to finish 7-under 206 (72-66-68), three better than second place SooBin Kim of Washington (209). Sophomore Doris Chen finished a strong event tied for third at 1-under 212 (69-70-73) and had two birdies during her final round. It was her third top 16 finish of the fall.

Fall Preview, Oct. 5-7
Junior Sophia Popov used a 2-under 70 to finish tied for fifth while sophomore Doris Chen carded a par as No. 4 USC tied for fourth at the 2012 Liz Murphey Fall Preview at the University of Georgia G.C. in Athens. The Trojans tied for third at a combined 19-over 883 (295-297-291). North Carolina came from behind to win at 12-over 876 (297-289-290) while defending NCAA champion Alabama took second at 16-over 880 (296-289-295). USC caught and tied day two leader Auburn. Popov posted her second straight top 12 finish at even 216 (71-75-70), three strokes out of first. Chen also posted her second top 20 result in a row, tying for 16th at 3-over 219 (73-74-72). Popov had a four-birdie round and was 2-under on the back 9 while Chen had two birdies against two bogeys. Freshman Kyung Kim tied for 23rd at 5-over 221 (75-71-75).

Cougar Classic, Sept. 9-11
USC opened the 2012-13 season with a third-place finish at the College of Charleston "Cougar Classic" at the Yeamans Hall Club in Charleston, S.C., in September. Junior Sophia Popov and sophomore Doris Chen tied for 12th while freshman Kyung Kim tied for 14th. The Trojans finished a combined 1-under 863 (285-283-295). Florida, the second-round leader, went on to win at 12-under 852 while Duke finished second at 6-under 858. Popov (70-69-76) and Chen (72-71-72) tied for 12th at 1-under 215. Popov had two birdies in her final round while Chen paired four bogeys with four birdies.

MISC
Junior Sophia Popov led Germany to second place at the 2012 Women's World Amateur Team Championship, completed Sept. 30, in Antalya, Turkey. Popov, a two-time All-American as a Trojan, led Germany to a combined 10-under during four rounds of play, three back of first-place Korea. Popov, in fact, led the German team at 6-under 282 (72-70-72-68), good for sixth place. Former teammate and 2012 USC graduate and fellow All-American Lisa McCloskey tied for fourth at 7-under 281 (70-71-67-73). The U.S. finished eighth at 6-under ... In a weather-shortened one-round event, Annie Park made her debut for the USC women's golf team with a third-place, par 72 while fellow frosh Ellie Chai also saw her first Trojan action at the 2013 Lady Bulldog Individual Championship at the University of Georgia G.C. in Athens, Ga., on Feb. 2. Playing on the same course that will host the NCAA Championships in May, Park finished three strokes behind winner Mia Piccio of Florida and one back of Furman's Laura Wearn. Chai finished tied for 28th with an 83.

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The Trojans, winners of the 2003 and 2008 NCAA titles, finished second by one stroke to the Crimson Tide last season, the second time in three seasons the Trojans finished second by a lone shot. USC not only has seven straight top 5 NCAA finishes, but has eight in the past 10 years.

USC won two tournaments last season, claiming the Battle at Rancho Bernardo and the 2012 NCAA Central Regional. The latter title was Troy's NCAA-best eighth regional crown. Troy also had four second-place finishes, including at the NCAA and Pac-12 Championships.

The Trojans, under 17th-year NGCA Hall of Fame coach Andrea Gaston, are led by junior Sophia Popov and sophomore Doris Chen. Popov was a 2011 All-American first teamer and earned All-American honorable mention honors in 2012. Chen was an All-American first teamer in 2012. Each won conference titles as freshmen, Popov in 2011, Chen in 2012. Popov was named to Golf World's 2012 "Top 10" Female Players to Watch list while Chen was on its "Top 50" list.

Also back is junior Rachel Morris, a 2011 NCAA All-Region performer who had a pair of top 20 finishes as a 2012 sophomore.

Five freshmen have joined the squad to bolster the Trojan roster. The highly rated Kyung Kim of Chandler, Ariz., and Kim Santiago from Lynwood, Wash., joined the team in the fall while the talented trio of Annie Park from Levittown, N.Y., Ellie Chai from Sherman Oaks, Calif., and Victoria Morgan from Pasadena, Calif., were added to the squad in January.

Kim is a four-time Rolex Junior All-American, twice as a first teamer, and the 2010 Arizona High School Player of the Year. She was also on Golf World's 2012 "Top 50" Female Players to Watch list. Santiago is a two-time AJGA Scholastic All-American. Park enters USC a semester early as a top 20 junior who played as an amateur at the 2012 U.S. Women's Open. Chai was a promising junior originally from New Orleans before moving to Los Angeles whose career was sidetracked due to a shoulder injury. She is healthy again and on the comeback trail. Morgan is an All-CIF performer who was the captain and MVP of her prep boys' team and was also an All-CIF tennis player.