USC Men’s Golf Completes Final Day of Pac-12 Championship

Carefree, Ariz. — The USC men's golf team closed out its final tournament and the final edition of the Pac-12 Championship on Sunday (Apr. 28) at Desert Forest Golf Club. After 72 holes of play, the Trojans tallied a tournament total of 102-over (374+396+374+378=1522) following a final round score of 23-over (70+75+76+78+79=378). The team is slotted in 12th after its longest tournament of the year. 
 
Tournament host Arizona State took home the title at a total of 27-over, after being the only team to record an 18-hole, 5-player team score in red figures this week.
 
Antonio Safa, who shined bright yesterday for the Trojans, didn't get the start he wanted and was fighting throughout the day. After a round that saw two birdies, the sophomore would finish his championship appearance with a final round score of 8-over (79), landing him with a Top 15th finish at his first PAC 12 Championship. 
 
Coach Hankins spoke on Safa's performance this week saying "Antonio played some great golf this weekend. It wasn't the finish he had planned on today but a top 15 finish in this field is a solid accomplishment in his first year at USC."
 
After grinding out a team best round of 1-under (70) on the day, Krando Nishiba worked his way into the top 25, placing in a tie for 22nd. In a round that saw him make 5 birdies, Nishiba would finish birdie, birdie on his two final holes to make one final push in the last tournament of his collegiate career where he would finish with a 3 day score of 13-over.
 
Gavin Aurilia who started his round steady with a bogey-less front nine that saw him turn to the back at 1-under, saw a couple unlucky breaks on his second nine and finished his day in 7-over (78). His tournament finished in 22-over and a tie for 54th.
 
Sam Lape and Nico Dominguez, who have been in close proximity on the leaderboard all tournament, ended their rounds today in 5-over (76) and 6-over (77). After 72 holes, the freshman and the graduate are tied for 63rd, both ending their first Pac-12 Championships in 29-over, across the three days.
 
Shane Ffrench made two birdies today but couldn't find his stride at Desert Forest finishing the day in 18-over (89).
 
Speaking on the difficulty of the course this weekend, Coach Hankins remarked, "Desert Forest was a great test this week and the conditions were championship level. You were punished every time you hit it offline off the tee. We didn't manage our big numbers this week and it cost us throughout the tournament.  Antonio and Krando both played solid golf and earned their top finishes."
 
Though the conditions were tough in Arizona this weekend, this is an experience that the three underclassmen Trojan golfers can take advantage of to fuel their campaign for the 2024-25 season. Coach Hankins continues to impress the fact that the team will improve and learn from this year's campaign as well as compete a more robust summer schedule for every player and a new updated schedule in the Fall.
 
 
INDIVIDUAL SCORES
1. Karl Vilips- (68+75+71+68=282)/-2
T15. Antonio Safa (71+78+67+79=295)/+11
T22. Krando Nishiba (75+74+78+70=297)/+13
T54. Gavin Aurilia (72+79+77+78=306)/+22
T63. Nico Dominguez (79+80+78+76=313)/+29
T63. Sam Lape - (79+85+74+75=313)/+29
70. Shane Ffrench - (77+89+96+89=351)/+62