By Michael Hurlbut
Assistant Sports Editor
In golf, tournaments often use a shotgun start to get all the players going at the same time, as each foursome starts on a different hole. Back in the old days, an actual shotgun was used to signal players to tee off. The Pepperdine men’s golf team gave the term new meaning this weekend as they shot themselves into third place at the Ping Arizona Collegiate after a blistering final team round.
Senior Michael Beard led the way for the Waves, shooting a three-round total of three-under par and finishing in a tie for seventh place overall. “I feel that this tournament was the start of a really successful spring as far as the team goes,” Beard said.
After having not picked up a club for nearly a month and a half due to wrist surgery, sophomore Randy Creighton came back firing, finishing in tenth place at two-under par. “Randy made a strong comeback,” Beard said, “It was good to see him back on the course.”
Fresno State won the team title, shooting a final total of four-under par 848. Pepperdine was only four shots back at 852.
After shooting 36 holes on Monday, the Waves stood in ninth place on the leader board. “We played average the first two rounds,” Beard said. “We left a lot of shots out there that we should have put away.”
Tuesday, however, the Waves stormed back, shooting eight shots better than every other team in the field in the final round. “When we finished the final round, we kept looking at the leaderboard,” said Beard, “We thought we might jump to fifth or sixth, but we were excited to see us jump to third.”
Freshman Brian O’Flaherty finished 42nd at five over par. Seniors Jason Allred and Brandon White also played well for the Waves over the weekend as they finished 29th and 57th, respectively. Allred and Beard each finished with a 68 on the final round.
Beard is excited about the upcoming possibilities for the team this spring. The Waves travel to Kona, Hawaii, next week to compete in the Taylor Made Big Island Intercollegiate. The same group of Beard, Creighton, Allred, White and O’Flaherty will be making the trip to Kona, hoping to capitalize on their promising finish in Arizona.
“Our team chemistry is great right now,”Beard said. “Our finish this week should definitely help our confidence in Hawaii.”
The Waves are currently ranked No. 19 nationally by Golf World and No. 25 by Golfweek. Allred is also currently ranked the No. 59 player in the country.
With their spring season just taking off, expect the Waves to continue to climb on the leaderboards and in the polls.
February 07, 2002