Southern Cal's youngsters ride the Wave to victory at San Luis Obispo Country Club

   Southern California women’s golf coach Andrea Gaston front-loaded the spring portion of the Trojans’ schedule, sending her young team out in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge, the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate and the Bruin Wave Invitational in consecutive weeks.

   Then she watched her team grow up right on front of her eyes. After finishing 10^th in an absolutely loaded field at the Northrop Grumman and second at the Allstate Sugar Bowl, Southern California, No. 10 in the latest Golfstat rankings, bested tournament host and crosstown rival UCLA, the No. 1 team in the country, by eight shots to capture the team title in the Bruin Wave Invitational Tuesday at a chilly San Luis Obispo Country Club in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

   Southern Cal grabbed control of tournament with an opening-round 300 in tough conditions Monday morning and never let go, adding a 298 Monday afternoon and finishing up with another 10-over-par 298 over the 6,323-yard, par-72 San Luis Obispo layout in Tuesday’s final round for a 32-over 896 total.

   UCLA, behind individual winner Lilia Vu, a junior from Fountain Valley, Calif. and the No. 2 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), was the runnerup, the Bruins’ final-round 301 leaving them eight shots behind Southern Cal at 40-over 904.

   No. 4 Stanford finished up with the best team round of the tournament, a 6-over 294, that left the Cardinal two shots behind UCLA in third at 906. No. 43 San Diego State, the only non-Pac-12 team among the top six finishers, had a final-round 303 to take fourth at 913, seven shots behind Stanford.

   No. 18 Washington was another shot behind San Diego State in fifth at 914 after a final-round 306 with No. 19 Colorado a distant sixth, 14 shots behind the Huskies, in the 16-team field at 928 after posting a 309 in the final round.

   Southern Cal and Stanford were semifinal losers in the NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms last spring to Northwestern and eventual champion Arizona State, the third Pac-12 representative in the final four, respectively. UCLA had dusted all three of those teams in the Pac-12 Championship only to see its postseason hopes go off the rails in the Lubbock Regional.

   This, however, is an almost completely remade Southern Cal team. But like perennial national contenders in any sport, the Trojans don’t rebuild, they just reload.

   Jennifer Chang, a freshman from Cary, N.C., led the way for the Trojans, finishing alone in third place at 6-over 222, seven shots behind Vu. She finished up with a 3-over 75 in a final round that was delayed at the start by frost.

   Alisen Corpuz, a sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, was two shots behind her teammate Chang in a tie for fourth at 8-over 224 after a solid final round of 2-over 74. 

   Maybe the key to the victory was the play of Gabi Ruffels, a freshman from Australia, the daughter of tennis champions who joined the program at the start of the spring semester, just in time to get thrown into tournaments with the best players in college golf, with many of the top women’s amateur players in the world. After opening with a 76, Ruffels had a pair of steady 3-over 75s to finish tied for seventh at 10-over 226.

   Alyaa Abdulghany, the third stud freshman in the Southern Cal lineup out of Newport Beach, Calif., finished tied for 16^th at 229, carding a crucial 2-over 74 in the final round. Rounding out the Southern Cal lineup was Aiko Leong, a sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii who finished tied for 27^th at 233 after a final-round 81. Leong’s opening-round 75, though, nicely picked up Abdulghany, who struggled to an 80. It’s what the good teams do.

   Vu got a little run for her money in the individual chase from an entirely expected source, Stanford’s Albane Valenzuela, a sophomore from Switzerland who is No. 5 in the Women’s WAGR.

   Vu had led Valenzuela by five going into the final round and her 3-over 75 was good enough for a 1-under 215 total and a two-shot margin of victory over Valenzuela, who matched par with a 72 for a 1-over 217 total. Valenzuela beat Vu in the U.S. Women’s Amateur semifinals last summer at San Diego Country Club, so Vu got a small bit of revenge. But this rivalry isn’t near over. There are several more chapters yet to be written.

   Sharing fourth place with Southern Cal’s Corpuz was Vu’s teammate, Mariel Galdiano, a sophomore from Pearl City, Hawaii and the qualifying medalist in the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur at Rolling Green Golf Club. Galdiano was probably disappointed with her final-round 77 that left her tied with Corpuz at 6-over 222, two shots behind Southern Cal’s Chang, but Galdiano knows there are bigger battles to come.

   Washington’s Sarah Rhee, a junior from Seattle, Wash., finished up strong with a 1-over 73 to end up alone in sixth at 9-over 225. And San Diego State’s Sara Kjelker, a freshman from Sweden, shared seventh place with Southern Cal’s Ruffels at 10-over 226 after carding a final-round 77.

   It wouldn’t be a big surprise to see the top three in the Bruin Wave, Southern Cal, UCLA and Stanford, among the top eight still standing when it comes time for match play in the NCAA Championship at Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Okla. in May. But there is still a lot of golf to be played between now and then.

Youthful Southern Cal grabs team lead, UCLA's Vu the individual leader in Bruin Wave Invitational

   In what is likely a preview of the Pac-12 Championship later this spring, Southern California, No. 10 in the latest Golfstat rankings, grabbed a five-shot lead over cross-town rival UCLA, the No. 1 team in the country, after two rounds of the Bruin Wave Invitational, played in cold and windy conditions at San Luis Obispo Country Club in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Monday.

   The Trojans, coming off a solid runnerup finish to Florida in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate, grinded out the low round of the morning, a 12-over 300 over the 6,323-yard, par-72 San Luis Obispo layout, and were one of just two teams to break 300 in the afternoon with a 10-over 298 for a 22-over 598 total.

   The host Bruins, behind individual leader Lilia Vu, a junior from Fountain Valley, Calif., bounced back from an opening-round 306 with the best round of the day in the afternoon, a 9-over 297 to leave them five shots behind Southern Cal in second at 27-over 603. UCLA is coming off a really impressive victory over an absolutely loaded field in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge earlier this month.

   No. 54 San Diego St., the non-Pac-12 interloper among the top six, had rounds of 302 and 308 to sit in third place at 610, seven shots behind UCLA.

   Defending champion Stanford, ranked fourth, had rounds of 303 and 309 to leave the Cardinal in fourth place at 612. But even 14 shots out of the lead, you can best the rest of the field will be keeping a wary eye on Stanford.

   No. 18 Washington, the 2016 national champion, is two shots behind Stanford in fifth at 614 after rounds of 308 and 306. No. 19 Colorado is another five shots behind the Huskies in sixth at 619 as the Buffaloes posted a solid 304 in the opening round, but fell back in the afternoon with a 315.

   Southern Cal lost its best and most experienced player when Robynn Ree, a junior from Redondo Beach, Calif. finished tied for fifth in the LPGA Qualifying School’s final stage and embarked on her professional career. But the SoCal kids have hardly skipped a beat.

   The Trojans were led Monday by Jennifer Chang, a freshman from Cary, N.C. who is tied for third in the individual standings at 1-over 147 after improving off an opening-round 76 with a 1-under 71 in the afternoon. There’s absolutely a ton of outstanding freshman players all around the country and Chang is one of them.

   Alisen Corpuz, a sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, is alone in sixth place for Southern Cal at 7-over 150. Corpuz had the best round of the morning for the Trojans with a 1-over 73 before falling back a little in the afternoon with a 77.

   Gabi Ruffels, a freshman from Australia, is tied for seventh at 7-over 151 with rounds of 76 and 75. Aiko Leong, a sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, is tied for 10^th at 152 after rounds of 75 and 77. Rounding out the Southern Cal lineup is Alyaa Abdulghany, a freshman from Newport Beach, Calif. who is tied for 20^th at 155 after improving off an opening-round 80 with a 3-over 75 in the afternoon.

   So let’s review, that’s five Southern California players in the top 20, three of them freshmen and two of them sophomores.

   UCLA’s Vu, the No. 2 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), fired the only sub-70 round of the day in the opening round with a 3-under 69. Her 1-under 71 in the afternoon gave her a 4-under 140 total and a five-shot lead in the individual standings. She was the only player under par after two rounds.

   Chasing Vu is Stanford’s Albane Valenzuela, a sophomore from Switzerland and the No. 5 player in the Women’s WAGR. Valenzuela defeated Vu in the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur down the coast at San Diego Country Club last summer on her way to a setback at the hands of Texas senior Sophia Schubert in the final. Valenzuela was also the runnerup in the European Ladies Amateur, a stroke-play event.

   Valenzuela had rounds of 72 and 73 for a 1-over 145 total.

   Backing up Vu for UCLA is Mariel Galdiano, a sophomore from Pearl City, Hawaii who shared third place with Southern Cal’s Chang at 3-over 147. Galdiano, a member of the 2016 U.S. Curtis Cup team that fell to Great Britain & Ireland at Dun Laoghaire Golf Club in suburban Dublin, bounced back from an opening-round 77 with a 2-under 70 that was the best round of the afternoon.

   San Diego State’s Sara Kjelker, a freshman from Sweden, is alone in fifth, two shots behind Chang and Galdiano, at 5-over 149 after improving off an opening-round 76 with a 1-over 73 in the afternoon.

   It probably should be noted that UCLA is teeing it up without two of its top players, Patty Tavatanakit, a freshman from Thailand, and Clare Legaspi, a sophomore from the Philippines, both of whom teed it up in the Women’s Amateur Asia Pacific, which concluded Saturday in Singapore. Tavatanakit is No. 13 in the Women’s WAGR and is a real star, but UCLA has enough talent at San Luis Opispo to win this thing without Tavatanakit and Legaspi. The Bruins are that good.

   Tuesday’s 18-hole windup figures to be a real shootout and reports are the weather is going to be a little more SoCal-like.

Seton Hall claims one-shot victory in Rio Verde Invitational

   Seton Hall is never going to be the kind of women’s golf program that is challenging for a national championship, but there are some smaller goals that suddenly seem within reach for the Pirates.

   Seton Hall, bolstered by several PIAA standouts from recent years, finished off a solid fall campaign with a runaway victory in the Brown Bear Invitational. Which meant the opener of the spring portion of their season, this weekend’s Rio Verde Invitational, hosted by Western Michigan at the Quail Run Golf Course in Rio Verde, Ariz., presented the Pirates with an opportunity to do something no other Seton Hall team has ever done – win back-to-back tournaments.

   And, in a gritty, determined effort, Seton Hall did exactly that Sunday, chasing down Akron for a one-shot victory. Seton Hall is 107^th in the latest Golfstat rankings, and was competing against teams also ranked in the 100s, but the Pirates got it done. And they did it without any of their players playing great, but with everybody contributing, with people picking each other up. It’s what good teams do and that’s what Seton Hall is right now.

   After struggling in an opening-round 307, Seton Hall still only trailed Akron by a shot. The Pirates put together a solid 8-over 296 in Saturday’s middle round while Akron carded a 5-over 293 and took a four-shot edge over Seton Hall into Sunday’s final round.

   Led by a 2-over-par 74 by Lizzie Win, a sophomore from Sylvania, Ohio, Seton Hall posted a final-round 299 to Akron’s 304. That gave the Pirates a 38-over 902 total, one shot better than the  903 total posted by the Zips.

   Arkansas State was another six shots behind Akron in third at 909 after a final-round 305, Bradley finished fourth at 913 after a final-round 299 and Wichita State was fifth in the 17-team field at 917 after a final-round 306. Arkansas State matched Akron’s 293 in the middle round, which was the low team round for the tournament.

   Akron was strong at the top its lineup, accounting for the top two spots in the individual standings. Danielle Nicholson, a junior from Geneva, Ohio, repeated as the Rio Verde individual champion with a 2-under 214 total over the 6,128-yard, par-72 Quail Run layout. The course played tough all weekend, but Nicholson tamed it with a 4-under 68, the only sub-70 round of the tournament, in Saturday’s second round and finished up with a 2-under 70.

   Teammate Jacinta Pikunas, a freshman from Youngstown, Ohio, was the runnerup, six shots behind Nicholson with a 4-over 220 total. Pikunas opened with a 1-under 71 and finished up with a 74.

   But Seton Hall was balanced and deep. The Pirates were led by freshman Mia Kness, the 2016 PIAA Class AAA champion as a senior at Peters Township. Kness opened with a 73 and added rounds of 76 and 75 to finish in a group tied for seventh at 8-over 224.

   Win and sophomore Maddie Sager, the PIAA Class AAA runnerup in 2015 as a senior at Owen J. Roberts, both ended up in the group tied for 16^th at 227. Win opened with an uncharacteristic 83, but bounced back in a big way with a 2-under 70 in Saturday’s second round before finishing up with that final-round 74. Sager had rounds of 74, 75 and 78.

   Sophomore Sammie Staudt, a standout at Coatesville, and Cassie Pantellas, a senior from Canton, Ohio., finished in a group tied for 36^th at 233. Staudt, like Win, opened with an 83, but bounced back with a pair of 75s. Pantellas opened with a 77 and added rounds of 81 and 75.

   The 77 by Pantellas in the opening round was big when Win and Staudt struggled and her final-round 75 was one of three 75s for the Hall, allowing it to toss Sager’s 78. Win’s bounce-back 70 in the middle round kept the Pirates in the hunt.

   Seton Hall also brought along senior Macky Fouse, the 2013 PIAA Class AA champion as a senior at Central Valley who competed as individual. And Fouse turned in a solid showing, finishing in the group tied for 30^th at 231, highlighted by a 1-over 73 in the opening round when Quail Run was making it tough on most of the field.

   Kness, Win and Sager all earned trips to the U.S. Women’s Amateur at San Diego Country Club last summer, hinting at an improved team at Seton Hall. The Pirates finished 40 shots behind Big East champion Georgetown last spring in fifth place, the Hoyas earning an automatic bid to the NCAA regionals.

   Maybe that bid to the NCAA regionals is a goal worth shooting for for a Seton Hall team that seems to be playing some pretty solid tournament golf at the moment.

   Arkansas State’s Sarah Childers, a senior from Jonesboro, Ark., finished third in the individual standings at 5-over 221, a shot behind Akron’s Pikunas. Childers broke par with a 2-under 70 in the second round. Wichita State’s Taryn Torgerson, a senior from Buhler, Kan., was another shot back in fourth at 6-over 222. Torgerson matched par in the second round with a 72.

   Bradley’s Taylor Ledwein, a sophomore from New Prague, Minn., and Eastern Michigan’s Maria Connelly, a sophomore from Westerville, Ohio., finished tied for fifth, another shot behind Torgerson at 7-over 223. Ledwein finished strong with an even-par 72 while Connelly also climbed the leaderboard with her final round of  1-under 71.