GREG BARNETT
Sports Editor
The Pepperdine men’s golf team finished in seventh after shooting 11-over par 875 over three rounds at the University of Arizona’s National Invitational Tournament.
Head Coach John Geiberger said he was disappointed with the team’s finish, but there were some highlights including sophomore Andrew Widmar and freshman Andrew Putnam’s fine play.
“We just didn’t get any more than two to three scores each day,” Geiberger said. “That’s why we finished where we did, we just weren’t firing on all cylinders.”
The Waves started the tournament Sunday by shooting a 3-over par 291, which positioned them in sixth place. However, the squad couldn’t muster a better day, firing a second-round 293 and a final-round 291 to finish the tournament at 11-over par.
Putnam continued his solid freshman season with a tie for fifth place after firing rounds of 71-72-68 to finish the tournament at 5-under par. He found himself in a tie for 14th place after day two and said his putts didn’t fall in the second round like they could have. He also said he made a couple mistakes on the back nine the last day that cost him the tournament.
“I thought I gave myself an opportunity to win this week, but it just wasn’t meant to be,” Putnam said.
Widmar played solidly throughout the tournament, finishing in a tie for 21st place with consistent rounds of 73-71-74. Senior co-captain Jesse Barnsley struggled a bit for his standards in the first two rounds with scores of 75-75, but came back to shoot an even par 72 in the final round to finish in a tie for 39th place.
Rounding out the Waves’ scoring, redshirt sophomore Carl Smith carded rounds of 72-75-79 to finish in a tie for 55th place. Finally, senior co-captain Eric Shriver finished in 77th place with rounds of 84-80-77.
Texas Christian University led the tournament the entire way after shooting a blistering 13-under par 275 in round one. The Horned Frogs ended the tournament with a 1-over par 289 round to finish the tournament at 10-under par 854 for a three-stroke victory. Kent State University almost caught the Horned Frogs with a final round of 9-under par 279, but came up three shots short at 7-under par 857.
The Waves are back on the course when they travel to the Morris Williams Intercollegiate in Austin, Texas, on April 7th and 8th.
“It would really help if our team had a good tournament to help boost our confidence and build momentum going into the post-season,” Putnam said.
03-27-2008
