Shuhei Matsuo
Assistant Sports Editor
Despite the struggle in the early part of the post season, Pepperdine men’s golf team managed to end its 2005-06 campaign at the season’s last tournament–the NCAA Division I Championships on Friday.
Pepperdine, led by Head Coach John Geiberger, broke its long-time winning streak at the West Coast Conference (WCC) early in May. The Waves, who won the 12 WCC titles in the last 13 years, disappointingly finished 5th at the par-72 6,826-yard Saddle Creek Golf Course in Copperopolis, Calif. However, they qualified to the NCAA West Regional Championships with No.14 seed. After tying 9th place at the Regionals later in May, Pepperdine made its seventh NCAA Championships appearance in its history.
Last week, the Waves traveled to neighbor state Oregon to compete among 30 selected teams across the nation for this 4-day championship at the par-72, 7,630-yard Crosswater Golf Club at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. Their 54-hole score 886 was 12 shots behind the Brigham Young Cougars to make the cut as the field was sliced to the top-15 for Saturday’s final round.
As Pepperdine, a majority of the field struggled with the poor weather and the tough course settings. However, four teams managed to finish the tournament sub-par.
Helped by the individual medalist Jonathan Moore’s 12-under, Oklahoma State captured the 109th NCAA Division I Championship with a total score of 9-under 1143. Florida made a big jump on the last day with a 9-under 279 and ended the tournament as the runner-up, posting a 6-under 1146. Minnesota and Wake Forest University tied for the 3rd place with a couple of 1147s, and University of Kentucky finished 5th with a 1-over 1153.
The 54-hole leader Washington had a disappointing final round of 13-over 301 and finished the event T-9 with a 6-over 1158.
Individually, Oklahoma State’s freshman Moore claimed a 4-shot victory over Georgia’s Chris Kirk and Wake Forest University’s Kyle Reifers. Dawie Van der Walt of Lamar University shot the final round’s best score, 5-under 67, to finish 4th place with a total score of 7-under 281, while another player from Oklahoma State Pablo Martin helped his team win the biggest college tournament of the year with a total score of 6-under 282 to finish 5th.
From Pepperdine, senior Alex Coe fired a third round score of 1-under 71, the Waves’ only under-par round in this tournament. Coe, who recently was named to All-Pacific Region league, shot an 8-over 296 after the first three rounds of the tournament.
Junior J.J Wood and sophomores Colin Wilcox, Jesse Barnsley, and Michael Baird respectively posted 221, 222, 226 and 230 after the third round on Friday
06-06-2006
