Men’s team finishes 12th of 14 in Arizona’s National Invitational Tournament.
By Michael Travis
Editor in Chief
With exhaustion mounting at the end of a three-week road trip, the Pepperdine men’s golf team finished the 14-team National Invitational Tournament in Tuscon, Ariz., with a 12th place finish Tuesday.
Junior Randy Creighton and sophomore Michael Putnam were the top individual performers for Pepperdine, as both players carded three-over par totals of 219 to finish in a three-way tie for 15th place. The two teammates tallied identical scorecards for the tournament, posting rounds of 72, 74 and 73.
“We (Putnam and I) had a pretty good tournament,” Creighton said. “Overall the conditions were pretty tough, but we could have played better.”
Actually, the Tucson National Golf Course, where the tournament was played, is regularly used in PGA competition.
“They set up the course exactly like it is set up on the PGA tour,” senior Brandon White said. White tallied rounds of 74, 81 and 75. “The greens (on the course) are very hard and fast, which will expose any weaknesses you have in your game.”
The course may have been a challenge for the team, but that fact didn’t stop Creighton from nailing a perfect shot on a 169-yard, par-three hole with a 9-iron.
“I got a hole-in-one in the last round, which helped out my final score quite a lot,” Creighton said. “It was my first one in ten years.”
In the game of golf, there are good days and bad days, like any anything. The Waves’ 12th-place finish is easy to understand when viewed in this context.
“We had a couple guys play well,” White said. “But we had to count a high score every (round) we played.”
The tournament was the last in a three-week series on the road. In fact, the team hasn’t seen Malibu much recently, being in town for just five of the last 18 days.
“We’ve got a week now where we can practice and recharge the batteries and get ready for what’s coming,” White said.
The hectic schedule is uncommon for the team, which usually competes in two tournaments a month. Last month the team took part in four tournaments. Balancing this busy schedule with a full class load is not an easy thing to do.
“The guys that are taking classes are really working hard,” White said. “I’m a senior so it’s not very difficult for me, but I know the other guys who are taking four or five classes right now are always doing work on the road. And the few days we have been in town lately, they are busy making up exams and trying to do what they can do.”
Creighton explained that this takes an enormous amount of cooperation between players and professors.
Keeping up with classes is actually quite difficult, traveling as much as we have,” he said. “Thankfully, luckily, our teachers are very patient and understanding.”
According to Creighton, the double life of a student and an athlete takes something special.
“It’s a lot of days of making up homework, especially when we have to do big projects,” Creighton said. “It’s difficult but it can be done.”
The Waves will complete in back-to-back tournaments starting next Thursday. They will complete their regular season next weekend in Tempe, Ariz. at the Arizona State Thunderbird/Savane Invitational, then travel to Fresno the next day to begin competition in the WCC Championships.
“We’re looking forward to competing in the conference championships,” Creighton said. “We expect to win. The sky’s the limit.”
April 03, 2003