DANIELLA BOSIO
Assistant Sports Editor
The No.-4 Pepperdine women’s golf team completed its fall season Wednesday by finishing in third place in the Las Vegas Founders Women’s Collegiate Showdown at the Anthem Country Club in Henderson, Nev. The tournament lasted Monday through Wednesday.
In the fall season, the team recorded two tournament victories out of four events. The Waves placed third and fourth place in the two other events.
The Waves competed against nine teams, which included No.-2 UCLA, No.-6 Arkansas, No.-11 UNLV, No.-22 Southern Methodist, No.-23 Arizona, No.-27 Oregon, No.-28 Kent State and No.-30 Missouri. All of these teams are among Golfweek’s Top 30 list.
“I really enjoyed this tournament,” said senior All-American Carolina Llano. “The course was pretty, the tournament was well organized, the weather was great and the competition was good.”
Sophomore Marina Choi and junior Eileen Vargas both shot 2-under par 70 to lead Pepperdine to a third place finish for the first day of the tournament. The Waves ended Monday on an even-par score of 288.
UCLA ended the first day in first place with a score of 9-under 279 on the par-72, 6,207-yard course. Trailing UCLA by only six strokes was Arizona who ended the day with a 3-under 285. Pepperdine and Kent State both tied for third.
Individually, the Waves were among the elite, as both Choi and Vargas tied with five other players for fifth place at the end of Monday’s play. Freshman Jayvie Agojo and sophomore Leanne Bowditch were tied for 32nd place with 2-over par scores of 78. Llano ended Monday tied for 60th place with a 6-over par score of 78.
“I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in the first round,” Llano said. “I came back in the second and third round and was a bit more consistent.”
UNLV’s Da Sol Chung shot 5-under 67 for the day and took the individual lead. Chung led by only one stroke over UCLA’s Jane Park and Arizona’s Amanda Wilson, who both carded 4-under 68.
In the second day of competition, the Waves were able to retain their third place position with a 3-over par round of 291 and a 36-hole score of 579.
Vargas and Llano took control for the Waves and each scored under- par rounds for their team. Llano tallied a 2-under par 70 and Vargas carded a 1-under par 71.
UCLA continued to hold the lead for the tournament as the Bruins recorded a 3-under total of 285 and were 12 shots ahead of Arizona, who held second place Tuesday. UCLA went into Wednesday’s final round with a 12-under score of 564, while Arizona was at an even-par 576.
Individually Pepperdine was on the board with Vargas, Bowditch, Llano and Agojo. Bowditch scored an even par 72 and tabbed 16th place for the day. Llano was tied for 27th and Agojo was tied for 50th.
The Waves played consistently on Wednesday and captured the third place title. Pepperdine finished at 6-over par 870 in the tournament and placed third overall. UCLA finished the tournament in first place with a score of 24-under par 840 and held a 27-shot lead over second-place Kent State. Arizona and host UNLV rounded out the rest of the top five.
“I was a little disappointed because I think our team could have done a little better,” Llano said. “We left some shots out there this week, but I think overall, we just could have performed better.”
Individually UCLA had a successful run as the team scored under-par all three rounds and also had three players finish in the top three. UCLA’s Hannah Jun tabbed first place honors as she finished play at 10-under par 206, a two-shot victory over teammate Jane Park.
Vargas tied for seventh place with a 2-under score of 214. This marked the fourth straight tournament that Vargas has finished in the top 10. Bowditch carded 1-under 215 to tie for ninth place, while Llano tied for 31st.
The Waves will take time off until February when they will defend their title at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
“We are really excited for the season to start,” Llano said. “We have the team, and we will be prepared for all the tournaments ahead.”
11-03-2005