GREG BARNETT
Sports Assistant
The Pepperdine men’s golf team looked to follow its opening tournament win with a strong finish at the Husky Invitational in Bremerton, Wash. The third round was cancelled due to rain and only Monday’s two rounds determined the winner.
Pepperdine finished in third place behind winner Oregon State University and the University of Washington. Oregon State finished at 9-over par 585 to take the team title by seven shots over Washington. Pepperdine finished at 19-over par 595 to lose by 10 shots.
The Waves were led by redshirt sophomore Carl Smith IV who finished in a tie for third place at even par 144 after rounds of 72-72. Senior Jesse Barnsley finished tied for 17th at 5-over par. Senior Eric Shriver finished tied for 25th at 7-over par. Sophomore Andrew Widmar tied for 31st at 8-over par followed by senior Colin Wilcox who finished at 12-over par.
“I would have liked to have finished a little higher,” Head Coach John Geiberger said. “But all in all it was a decent tournament, and I think we adapted to the weather conditions well.”
The individual title went to Oregon State’s James Allenby, who shot rounds of 67 and 71 to win by four shots over Washington’s Zach Bixler.
Smith recorded six birdies and six bogeys in his first round and three birdies and three bogeys in his second round to shoot even par in both. Smith changed putters before the tournament and attributed that to part of his success this week.
“I played with a lot of confidence, mainly because going into the tournament I was hitting it well,” Smith said. “When you’re thinking well and hitting it well, you usually play well.”
Smith’s tie for third was the best finish of his career, whose previous best was 13th place at the 2006 Club Glove Intercollegiate.
“It was great to see Carl have a breakout event,” Geiberger said. “It doesn’t surprise me that he played well, he’s been working on a lot of the right things and he’s finally seeing the results.”
Pepperdine is back in action when it travels to La Quinta Calif., for the Prestige, which begins Oct. 15.
10-04-2007
