SHUHEI MATSUO
Assistant Sports Editor
The Pepperdine men’s golf team concluded its regular season action when it placed 14th of 15 at the National Invitational Tournament that ended Tuesday.
The Waves posted a final-round 6-over par 294 to total a 54-hole score of 18-over par at the par-72, 7,200-yard OMNI Tucson National in Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona State captured the team title with a 24-under 840 to register an eight-shot victory over UCLA, which finished at 16-under 848. Host Arizona and Tulsa tied for third at 12-under 852, while Texas A&M carded a 9-under 855 to round out the top five.
After finishing 14th out of 15 teams, junior player Jesse Barnsley did not hide his disappointment on his team’s performance this week.
“It wasn’t even close to our potential,” he said. “We need to figure something out soon.”
Despite the unsatisfactory team results, Barnsley had the top showing for the Waves as he tied for 29th with a 2-over par score of 208. He had a slow start as he shot 74 and 75 on Monday, but finished strong at the end with a final-round score of 69 to move up 24 spots in the standings.
“I hit the ball very well throughout the tournament but just didn’t make any putts at all during the first two rounds,” Barnsley said. “For the third round, I started making some putts and didn’t make any mistakes.”
Niklas Lemke of Arizona State claimed individual medalist honors with a 9-under par 207 to finish one shot ahead of teammate Benjamin Alvarado and Ryan Henry of Tulsa, who finished the tournament at 8-under 208.
Unlike Barnsley, freshman Andrew Widmar had a solid outing during the early part of the tournament, going 72-70 to tie for 10th after the first two rounds Monday. However, he dropped 38 spots in the standings after posting a final-round score of 79 to tie for 48th with a 5-over 221.
“All three rounds, I wasn’t really comfortable with my swing,” Widmar said.
However, he managed to remain at 2-under after the second round.
“I was really happy with the way I played during the first two rounds,” he said. “But during the final round, [my swing issue] finally caught up. I think I put a little too much pressure on myself.”
Still, it was a good experience for him to play at the hosting course for the NCAA Regional Championships in May, he added.
“I feel like the regional is what we need to focus on, and I think everybody who played this week got a good feel of the course,” he said.
Pepperdine is next in action when it opens its post season at the West Coast Conference (WCC) Championships at the La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc, Calif. The Waves are looking forward to win this tournament for the eighth time in the last nine years, but it will not be an easy task.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do before the Conference,” Barnsley said. “We’ll be working our butt off in the next two weeks.”
04-05-2007
