USC goes deep for record-setting win in Golfweek Red Sky Challenge debut
By Julie Williams — Golfweek
USC is not a team that shows up unprepared. And preparedness was even more evident over the past week at nearly 8,000 feet in the Colorado mountains.
In its team debut at the Golfweek Red Sky Challenge, USC went a head-turning 45 under par over 54 holes to finish 17 shots better than runner-up Pepperdine and take home its first title of the season. The Trojans began putting in the work at simulated altitude more than a week before showing up on site at Red Sky Golf Club in Wolcott, Colorado.
“We really attack our yardage work more aggressively than most teams,” head coach Justin Silverstein said. “We really attacked the elevation change. About 10 days ago we were doing all of our yardage testing at 7,700 feet in our indoor facilities. We did that two or three times to try to get them comfortable.”
This has become a hallmark of Silverstein’s USC squads. Silverstein is a number cruncher, often finding an edge in the data.
Combining that method with a talented squad, tee to green, and a soft, attackable golf course produced a team performance that was in NCAA record territory. Iowa State’s women own that honor after going 60 under at the Mountain View Collegiate in 2023. Stanford has twice gone 50 under.
