USF's men's and women's golf teams will travel to Provo, Utah this week for the West Coast Conference Championships which get underway on Thursday at Riverside Country Club.
 
The 54-hole event will be contested over three days, with team and individual champions being crowned on Saturday. The men's team champion will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. A win brings no guarantees to the women's champion, as the conference does not have an automatic bid to postseason since only five WCC schools fields women's golf teams.
 
Saint Mary's won last year's men's championship at the Blackhawk Country Club in Danville, while BYU captured the women's title on the same course, ending Pepperdine's run of 14 consecutive conference titles. USF's men's team finished seventh while the women's squad placed fifth in last year's event.
 
The Riverside Country Club is a first-time host for the event, which is now being rotated among the conference members.
 
Men's Preview
 
Does familiarity breed comfort or contempt?
 
The Dons will answer that question starting Thursday they return to the Riverside Country Club in Provo, site of last week's Ping Cougar Classic, where USF finished sixth in an 11-team field with a 3-under score of 861. BYU won the event with a 22-under score of 842, Loyola Marymount finished in second place, eight shots back at 850, while Santa Clara and Saint Mary's tied for fourth at 9-under 855.
 
While simple math might dictate USF's barometer for success this week, head coach Jack Kennedy hopes the valuable lessons the Dons learned from last week's trip to Riverside Country Club will point the team to its first conference title since 2009.
 
"Having played Riverside last week, we understand how the altitude will affect the ball flight and the importance of staying below the hole to allow a more aggressive mindset on the greens," said Kennedy. "The course can produce low numbers, but also has some holes that must be played prudently. I'm expecting it to play fast and firm. The greens are in great shape and are very rewarding to good, confident strokes."
 
Kennedy also points to Riverside's four par-5's as being swing holes.
 
"In order to be successful this week, par-5 scoring will be at a premium. While all of the par-5's are reachable, we must put ourselves in great positions to score and not be overly aggressive. We also must control our distances with our short irons and wedges."
 
The Dons played Riverside's four par-5's at 11-under last week, while BYU and LMU managed to navigate the same holes at 15-under.
 
Nine of the conference's 10 institutions will be competing for the WCC Championship, excluding Portland, which no longer fields a men's golf team. Pepperdine is the highest-ranked team in the field, checking in at No. 22 in the latest Golfstat rankings. The Waves are coming off a strong, fourth-place finish at the Western Intercollegiate, which traditionally features one of the strongest fields of the spring season. BYU (47), Saint Mary's (57) and USF (85) are also ranked in the top-100 according to Golfstat.
 
"The WCC is a great golf conference," said Kennedy. "We know that a third of our conference will be playing in the NCAA tournament based on their rankings and we also know that we have beaten all of those teams at some point this season. While we might not be the favorites coming in, we will not be surprised to be atop the leaderboard come Saturday afternoon.
 
"We will play loose and confident and let the results speak for themselves. There is no doubt in my mind that we are equally as talented as any team in the field this week. It is simply a matter of playing our best golf over a three day period."
 
The Dons are expected to send a lineup consisting of Tim Widing, Michael D'Angelo, Jalen Griffin, Max Alcorn and Henry Chung to Provo this week in search of the program's 12th conference title.
 
Widing found the Riverside layout to his liking last week, as the freshman shot a school-record 7-under 63 in his final round to tie for third with a 6-under score of 210. Pavan Sagoo of Saint Mary's and Blake Meek of Loyola Marymount shared medalist honors at 7-under 209. The last USF player to win the WCC individual title was Taylor Travis in 2011.
 
Pepperdine sophomore Sahith Theegala, ranked 31st by Golfstat, is the highest-rated individual player in the field, followed by Patrick Fishburn (45th) of BYU and Widing (77th).
 
Women's Preview
 
USF hopes it can ride the momentum gained from last week's showing at the Silverado Showdown into the WCC Championships, where the Dons will be looking for its first conference title since 2001.
 
The Dons are coming off its best performance of the year at last week's Silverado Showdown in Napa, where USF placed eighth in a strong field. USF finished with a 14-over par of 878, placing the Dons ahead of WCC schools Pepperdine (879) and Gonzaga (921). BYU and Santa Clara were not in the field.
 
USF posted two of its lowest rounds of the season on Silverado's North Course, while freshman junior Vanessa Ha and freshman Samantha Gong turned in rounds of 66 and 67, respectively. Gong tied for 13th in the event with an even par score of 216, while Ha's final round 66 was the lowest of her career.
 
Seniors Alison Lillie and Ayaka Suzuki, along with junior Emily Laskin, are expected to join Ha and Gong to round out the Dons lineup. The quintet has been together just once this season, when it finished ninth in a 12-team field at the BYU Entrada Classic a month ago. For Laskin and Gong, it will be their first appearances in the WCC Championships.
 
Head coach Sarah Glynn hopes the Dons will catch lightening in a bottle for a second consecutive week starting Thursday in Provo.
 
"The girls surprised themselves last week, but the timing could not have been better," said Glynn. "They are excited for this week simply because then now know they can win if they play to their abilities. If we play like we did at Silverado, we'll be right there. Sometimes it just takes a little success to relight the fire."
 
BYU and Pepperdine are the highest-rated teams in the field, checking in at 27th and 36th, respectively in the latest Golfstat rankings, followed by Gonzaga (87), Santa Clara (94) and USF (121). Portland, Pacific, Saint Mary's, San Diego nor Loyola Marymount field women's golf programs. Gonzaga's Bianca Pagdanganan (80), BYU's Kendra Dalton (103) and Pepperdine's Hira Naveed (114) are the highest-ranked individuals, according to Golfstat.