By Lindsey Besecker
Assistant Sports Editor

It’s a busy time right now for the Pepperdine women’s golf team. Spring is in the air, and hopefully the lady Waves will have a spring in their step as they compete in two tournaments before classes resume after Spring Break.

Last weekend the Waves, who are currently ranked No. 16 in the nation, tied for 10th place in the TRW Regional Challenge. The team is now looking ahead to its competition in the Arizona Wildcat Invitational.

“We are playing in three really good tournaments before (the WCC tournament),” junior Lindsay Wright said. “I think we will do really well in it this year because we will all be prepared for it. It’s a lot of golfing in one month, but it helps us prepare.”

The Waves will travel to the Raven Country Club in Tucson, Ariz., for the Feb. 25-26 tournament. After that, Pepperdine will participate in the San Jose State Spartan Invitational March 4-6 at the Corral de Tierra Country Club in Monterrey, Calif.

“We almost won (the San Jose Invitational) last year,” junior Katherine Hull said. “We were one shot behind New Mexico State. We are definitely looking to win it. The fields are going to be good again this year. If we play well, it will be rewarding.”

The Waves showed that they can play with the top teams last weekend as they tied with Florida in the 18-team tournament, which was hosted by Ohio State but held in Palos Verdes, perhaps due to the less than ideal golf weather in Ohio this time of the year.

Pepperdine held the fifth place spot after the first round, but dropped to 10th after the second round, where it shot a 311.

Tulsa, who is ranked No. 2 by Golfweek and Golf World, won the tournament with an overall score of 870. No. 8 Texas came in second with 293, 23 stokes behind Tulsa.

Pepperdine’s finish was impressive, as it came in ahead of No. 3 Ohio State and No. 5 Georgia.

Hull was the top performer for the Waves, finishing in a tie for 14th.

“I am ranked third in the nation, so I was trying to finish in the top five,” Hull said. “In the first rounds I got off to a slow start because of mental errors. I came back on the third day and wasn’t disappointed.

“Golf is like that. You’re up one day and down the next. It’s kind of unpredictable.”

Arizona’s Lorena Ochoa won the individual title, finishing with a seven-under par 206. Oklahoma State’s Christi Cano and Georgia’s Angela Jerman tied for second with 212. The four-way tie consisted of players with 223, 10-over par.

Wright tied for 21st with 226.

“We did pretty well for our first tournament,” Wright said. “We wanted to do really well. We could have done a lot better but then again a lot of us were sick (with the flu).”

The Waves face more tough competitors in the upcoming weeks and then will head to the WCC tournament in mid-April.

February 21, 2002