SHUHEI MATSUO
Assistant Sports Editor
After capturing its first victory of the season at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge on Feb. 14, the No.-3 Pepperdine women’s golf team struggled in neighbor state Arizona, tying for 5th at the Arizona Wildcat Invitational on Tuesday.
The Waves finished with a 54-hole score of 45-over par 897 to tie New Mexico for fifth, 29 shots behind Arizona State’s 868. The Sun Devils posted an eight-shot victory over second-place Duke, team that shot a 24-over 876 at the par-71, 6,238-yard Arizona National Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.
Even though the 15-team field included 12 teams ranked in Golfweek’s Top 30 with seven in the Top 10, sophomore player Jayvie Agojo said she and her team are not satisfied with the results.
“We are definitely not happy with [the results],” she said. “It wasn’t just our tournament, not like in Palos Verdes [two weeks ago].”
While Agojo’s 13-over par 226 tied for 29th individually, her teammate Misun Cho again led the Waves with a 6-over 219, tying for the 11th, nine shots behind Duke’s Amanda Blumenherst, who captured individual medalist honors after Tuesday’s final round.
As a freshman golfer, Cho’s solid performances at recent tournaments contributed the team significantly. She claimed the individual medalist honors at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes two weeks ago when she shot a 5-over par 218 to beat her teammate Agojo by one shot.
Junior Stephanie Gelleni finished T-32 with a 14-over 227, while sophomore Nicole Montgomery tied for 41st with an 18-over par 231.
“We just have to be consistent and stay positive,” Vargas said. “And then we’ll have a good chance to win the next tournament.”
The Waves are back in action Monday when they compete at the UCF Challenge at the Grand Cypress Golf Club in Orlando, Florida.
03-01-2007
