Coming off a disappointing fall season in which the Pepperdine men’s golf team only finished in the top five once the Waves changed course and grabbed a victory at the Arizona Intercollegiate. It was the team’s first tournament of the spring campaign.
Sophomore Chad Vivolo playing in only his second tournament of the season closed strongly with the best round of the tournament and his career. Following consecutive 72s in the first two rounds he shot a 6-under par 65 in the third to climb from a tie for 20th and finish in 4th.
“I hit it good the whole tournament and gave myself a lot of opportunities but yesterday my putting left me Vivolo said. I made a little adjustment in my stroke where I made it a little shorter and accelerated more and I made everything. I played like a champion.”
Pepperdine ended the tournament with a three-round total of 3-over par 855 to win by three strokes over San Diego State. The Waves needed Vivolo’s remarkable round to hold off the San Diego State Aztecs who last year rallied to tie Pepperdine in the final round of the NCAA West Regional.
“Winning is never easy said Waves’ Head Coach John Geiberger. We beat a lot of good programs today and one day we’ll march through and win by 10. But this win is definitely going to help down the road.”
The first two rounds were played in windy conditions in the Arizona desert which resulted scores much higher than anticipated on the relatively short 6793-yard par 71 layout. Sophomore Andrew Putnam held the first round lead with a 67 but faded with rounds of 69-77 to finish in a tie for 9th place. Putnam’s top 10 was his third of the season and he has not placed outside the top 20 all season.
Redshirt freshman Josh Anderson fired rounds of 74-69-73 to end the tournament in a tie for 15th. Today Anderson has a date with the pros as he will be competing in the PGA Tour’s Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines. He was invited to the tournament in November after shooting 68 at an amateur qualifier in San Diego to edge out USC standout Jamie Lovemark.
Sophomore Austyn Karle put together rounds of 73-70-75 to finish 24th and rounding out the Waves was redshirt junior Carl Smith who tied for 37th with rounds of 75-71-77.
Geiberger said it is only the first tournament of the spring and they have a long way to go but he has a strong group of young players who all have different strengths.
“We’re trying to focus on having us play to the best of our ability and look at the big picture he said. If we played great today and we got second that would have been a bonus too.”
The Waves hit the links next when they travel up the 101 to the USC Intercollegiate at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village Calif. Feb. 23-24.