SHUHEI MATSUO
Sports Assistant
The No.-25 Pepperdine men’s golf team is off to an impressive start of its 2006 campaign after finishing T-5 at this week’s PING-Arizona Intercollegiate.
The Waves traveled to neighbor state Arizona and compete against 15 other schools from eight states at the par-71 Arizona National Golf Club in Tucson.
Pepperdine shot a 2-under 850 for the three-round tournament and tied for the fifth with Tulsa.
Individually, senior Alex Coe shot a final-round even-par score of 71 to post a four-under 209 to tie for the seventh. Sophomore Michael Baird and junior J.J. Wood also posted a couple of sub-par scores. Baird shot a 2-under 211 to tie for the 10th and Wood shot a 1-under 212 and tied with four other golfers for 12th place.
Finishing T-5 at the season opener, Head Coach John Geiberger said he is confident with this year’s team.
Despite the loss of 2005’s star golfer Michael Putnam, who turned professional over the summer, this year’s team is the deepest in years, he said.
“Last year, we were younger, and no one felt like they could beat Mike or should,” he said. “But this year, everybody is trying to fill his spot and getting better.”
Although the whole team relied on Putnam to shoot low scores in 2005, everyone on the team is capable to go low this year, Geiberger said.
“It’s hard to rely on one person,” he said. “In team golf, we need everybody to play well.”
Like Geiberger, Wood said he doesn’t think loosing Putnam affects the team in a bad way.
“We all want to be like Putty,” Wood said. “We could beat anyone out there if we play well.”
Geiberger and Wood said the team’s main goal for the season is to win the conference, get a high seed in the regional and win the national championship.
Senior team leader, Coe, also said he was confident with this year’s team.
“I think we have a lot of potential and game,” Coe said. “The team is talented and definitely better team than last year.”
He also said this year’s team has better chemistry than last year.
“We hang out more and work out together,” he said.
For the team’s goal, he hopes that everybody on the team gets better throughout the season, he said. And as an individual, he wants to get more matured in his game and understand the game better, he said.
With his fellow teammate Coe, who tied for the seventh in the season-opening event, Arizona native Wood had a smooth start of the season with an under-par score.
“It was a typical desert course,” he said. “It’s pretty easy to go low if you can just keep it on the fairways and the greens.”
Freshman Adam Porzak, however, didn’t describe the course as easy as it seemed.
“It was so windy,” said Porzak, the only freshman Pepperdine golfer who participated in the event. “I mean, you know how we get Santa Ana winds here? It was just like that.”
Despite the decent finish at the tournament, Porzak said he was disappointed by the result.
“We could have won the tournament,” he said.
According to him, the team was 8-over for the last two holes in the last round. Porzak, with a double boggy and a boggy on No.-17 and No.-18, finished the tournament with a 5-over 218.
“All we have to do is to minimize the mistakes,” he said.
The Waves return to action on Wednesday when they travel and compete in the Taylor Made/Waikoloa Intercollegiate at the Waikoloa Kings Golf Course in Kona, Hawaii.
02-02-2006
