SHUHEI MATSUO
Sports Assistant
The Pepperdine men’s golf team is off to another solid start at this week’s University of Hawaii – Hilo Intercollegiate. After finishing tied for fifth at last week’s PING-Arizona Intercollegiate, the 22nd-ranked Waves traveled to Hawaii and tied for fifth after the first round Wednesday.
No.-3 Georgia Tech leads the 16-team field that includes six teams ranked in the top 30. The Yellow Jackets opened with a 16-under par 268 and hold a four-shot lead over No.-2 Oklahoma State who shot a 12-under 272.
Pepperdine and Hawaii shot 7-under and follow USC, which carded a 10-under par 274 for the third.
More than 40 players shot under par during first-round play, including Oklahoma State’s Pablo Martin, who carded a 7-under 64 and holds a one-shot lead over Hawaii’s Jerett Hamamoto and Georgia Tech’s Cameron Tringale. Both players shot 6-under par scores of 65.
Despite the rough Hawaii’s weather, the Waves stayed low, shooting a 7-under 277 as a team.
Individually, senior Alex Coe, sophomore Michael Baird and freshman Adam Porzak shot sub-par scores 4-under 67 to tie for the 7th, 2-under 69 to tie for the 21st and 1-under 70 to tie for the 34th, respectively.
Although typical Hawaiian course Waikoloa Village Golf Course differs from Californian courses, everyone on the team played well, Porzak said.
“The course has a totally different kind of grass, and it’s kind of difficult to adjust to that,” Porzak said. “But we played pretty good as a team.”
According to Porzak, the course got windier in the afternoon. However, he played better on the back nine, shooting a 34 after the front nine’s 36.
Junior J.J. Wood and sophomore Jesse Barnsley shot a couple of even-par scores 71 and tied for the 45th. Barnsley had an eagle on the 18th hole to finish 71.
The tournament continues with the second-round action today and concludes with the final 18 holes tomorrow.
02-09-2006
