GREG BARNETT
Sports Assistant
The Pepperdine women’s golf team opened up its 2007 campaign this week in Albuquerque, N.M., looking to start the season with a good finish at the Margaret Branch NCAA Fall Preview. The 10th ranked Waves finished in a disappointing 12th place in a strong field that included Duke University, University of Southern California and UCLA.
The Waves were led by freshman Taylore Karle who finished in 11th place individually with a 4-under par total of 214. Senior Leanne Bowditch finished in 17th place at 1-under par followed by junior Nicole Montgomery who finished in 51st place at 8-over par. Junior Jayvie Agojo shot 15-over par and Senior Stephanie Gelleni shot 16-over par to round out the Waves scoring.
“We didn’t finish as strong as we wanted to,” co-captain Leanne Bowditch said. “But it was a good start to the season and we’re looking forward to the next tournament.”
Karle, playing in her first collegiate tournament, opened up with a bogey free round of 67 to lead the tournament after the first day. She followed that round with 71 in the second round but finished with a disappointing 77 in the final round to drop from second place to 11th.
“I did really good starting out and then it just felt like I had a lot of challenges thrown my way and I couldn’t really keep it together as well,” Karle said.
Pepperdine’s 12th place finish was 33 shots behind Duke’s winning score of 16-under par 860. The individual winner was Dewi Claire Schreefel of USC who shot 15-under par to win by four shots over Amanda Blumenherst of Duke.
The Waves are returning four players from last year’s squad and added Karle. Head Coach Laurie Gibbs said she expects her team to repeat the same success as last year because of her returning players and Karle, the only incoming freshman.
“I think we can definitely repeat the success that we had last season,” Gibbs said. “However, we’re going to take it one tournament at a time and really enjoy the season.”
Karle, an Arizona native, is the younger sister of Austyn Karle who is a freshman on the Pepperdine men’s golf team. Taylore finished high school early to attend Pepperdine this season with Austyn. She was number one on Gibbs’ recruiting list and has played in multiple LPGA tour events.
“Taylore is outstanding,” Gibbs said. “We were so excited she chose Pepperdine, she’s mature with an incredible work ethic and has high expectations for this year.”
Next up for the Waves is the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational in Redmond, Wash., which starts Oct. 8.
09-27-2007
