The Pepperdine women’s golf team nationally ranked fifth will conclude its 2009-2010 season at the PING/Arizona State Invitational tournament held in Tempe Ariz. this weekend. The tournament will consist of three one-day rounds to be played Friday April 9 to Sunday April 11 on the 72-par Karsten Golf Course.
The tournament will host 17 teams from universities across the country. Out of these teams Pepperdine rivals include USC Arizona State and UCLA according to sophomore Kaitlin Drolson.
“This week we should be able to do really well Drolson said. This would be a great tourney to win and we’re ready.”
Sophomore Jessica Wallace also said she think the Waves have a good chance at winning because she and her teammates have put themselves in good positions in recent tournaments.
Other universities competing in the PING/ Arizona State Invitational include: Arizona UC Berkeley Denver New Mexico Oklahoma State Purdue San Jose State Stanford University of Texas Tulsa Washington and Washington State.
Pepperdine’s lineup will consist of sophomores Drolson Lisa McCloskey and Wallace freshman Danielle Kang and junior Taylore Karle. Pepperdine’s five players participating in the tournament hold an average of 74.12 on par-72 courses.
The Waves began this season with two tournament wins. The first win was at the Golfweek Conference Challenge a tournament the Waves won by one stroke. The second tournament was at the Dick McGuire Invitational which they participated in just four days after their first win. This marks the first time Pepperdine has won back-to-back tournaments since 2005.
Wallace said the tournament will help the Waves prepare for postseason.
“I think that playing this tournament will give us another chance to compete against some of the other top teams in the country Wallace said. It’s a good way of seeing how our games are measuring up heading into postseason.”
The Waves finished eighth last season a result Wallace does not anticipate having again.
“We definitely struggled but now we have more experience on this course going into this year’s tourney Wallace said. It’s been a while since we’ve played competitively and we’re ready to play solid golf.”
Wallace said she has high hopes for the Waves in their last tournament of season play.
“I think that the team we have this year is capable of keeping up with every other top team in the country on any given day Wallace said. We expect a lot from ourselves and have a really hard-working group of girls. I’m really looking forward to finishing off the season strong.”
