Greg Barnett
Online Assistant
The Pepperdine men’s golf team headed to New Mexico last week, attempting to defend its title at the William Tucker Intercollegiate, but it finished in third place at the University of New Mexico Championship Course in Albuquerque. The Waves shot an even par total of 864, finishing one shot behind host University of New Mexico and 12 shots behind tournament winner, UNLV.
The course has treated the Waves well recently, with alum Jesse Barnsley winning the individual title last year, as well as the Waves winning the team title. Also, this past summer, junior Andrew Widmar qualified for the United States Amateur on the 7,400-yard track.
Red-shirt freshman Josh Anderson continued the Waves’ success with a third place finish to lead Pepperdine with scores of 71-69-72 for a 4-under par total and his second top-20 finish in as many tournaments this season. Sophomore Andrew Putnam finished in a tie for eighth place for his first top-ten finish of the season, with rounds of 68-72-75.
“It was great [for Josh] to finish third,” Head Coach John Geiberger said. “That will definitely help his confidence throughout the season, to know that he can compete at a high level in college.”
Sophomore Austyn Karle followed his strong finish in Minnesota two weeks ago with a tie for 11th place in New Mexico. He did so by firing a 2-under par 70 in the final round to move up 14 places. However, red-shirt junior Carl Smith made the biggest jump up the leader board on Saturday, following a second round 81 with a final round 71 that moved him from 71st to a tie for 37th.
Junior Shane Mason rounded out the Waves’ scoring with a tie for 52nd, totaling 12-over par 228 after three rounds.
Karle said the reason he’s playing better this year is he’s playing smarter, managing his game better and putting better.
“I’m becoming more confident with my mental approach,” Karle said. “I figured out what’s working for my game, what makes me feel good and I just need to have fun and not take it so seriously.”
Anderson found himself tied for the lead on the last nine of the tournament, tied at 5-under par with two others. But, a double bogey on the long, difficult par-3 17th hole ended his bid for his first collegiate victory.
Anderson pulled a 3-wood for his tee shot and said he popped it up, pushing it to the right of the elevated green and it ended up in the rough. His pitch from the deep rough then flew over the green, and, after chipping on, he missed the putt for bogey. Showing his resolve and determination, Anderson followed 17 with a two-putt birdie on the par-5 18th.
“I am feeling really confident going into the next event and hopefully our team can keep up the good play and we can get a win out of it,” Anderson said. “I am really looking forward to this event because a lot of my family and friends will be coming out to watch, which makes it more exciting for me.”
Smith has been all over the map this year, with two solid rounds in both tournaments, but also posting one round in the 80s, as well. Geiberger said it’s hard to have three good rounds in a tournament, but Smith’s bad round should be better.
“That’s something he’s got to work on,” Geiberger said. “It’s hard to have three good rounds, but, as good as he is, his bad round should be much better. But, saying that, it’s encouraging he can throw an under par round out there, as well.”
The Waves’ next tournament will be a short trip to La Quinta, Calif. for The Prestige. Smith is the only member of the team who has played the course as a Wave, but Geiberger said that shouldn’t be a problem for his team’s ability to play well.
“I can’t see any reason why we can’t play well,” Geiberger said. “It’s just another golf course.”
10-02-2008
