Hall of Fame
From the 2018 Hall of Fame program:
A key member on the best teams in Pepperdine women’s golf history, Carolina Llano was a three-time All-American and a three-time medalist at the West Coast Conference Championships.
Llano hailed from Medellin, Colombia, and she was her country’s top-ranked amateur golfer. She had an outstanding junior career, which included a third-place finish at the 2002 Junior Worlds and 21st at the 2002 World Amateur. Llano enrolled at Pepperdine in January 2003 and immediately made an impact.
The three best NCAA finishes in Pepperdine women’s golf history came during Llano’s tenure: second place as a 2003 freshman, fourth place as a 2005 junior and third place as a 2006 senior. She posted top-20 finishes individually all three times, including a tie for sixth place in 2005.
Llano would earn All-American second team status from the Women’s Golf Coaches Association in both 2004 and 2005, and was honorable mention in 2006. She captured WCC individual titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005, which at the time automatically made her the WCC Player of the Year.
In Golfweek/Sagarin’s final individual national rankings, Llano came in at No. 16 in 2005, No. 21 in 2004 and No. 41 in 2006.
During the first semester of Llano’s college career, she was in the lineup as the Waves won five consecutive tournaments and ascended to the program’s first-ever No. 1 national ranking. She earned the WCC’s Freshman of the Year award that season.
Llano would go on to become just the fourth Wave to earn All-WCC first team honors four times. She holds the WCC Championships record with a winning score of 8-under. The Waves won WCC titles all four of her years.
In addition to her three WCC titles, Llano was also the medalist at the 2003 NCAA Fall Preview. Her four career victories rank third all-time at Pepperdine. The Waves won 12 team tournaments during her four years.
Her career scoring average of 73.95 ranked third at the time of her graduation and is now fifth. She also ranks among Pepperdine’s top five players in top-10 finishes (18) and below-par rounds (24).
A standout in the classroom as well, Llano was a WGCA All-American Scholar in 2006 and made the WCC’s All-Academic first team three times.
After graduating in 2006 with a degree in international business, Llano embarked upon a professional career that lasted six years. She earned LPGA Tour cards in 2008 and 2009, and her best finish was a tie for ninth place at the 2008 Corona Morelia Championship.
She currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona. Since 2014, she has worked at FineMark National Bank & Trust as a financial planner and a relationship manager in their sports division. Llano also earned an MBA from Arizona State in 2014, and became a certified financial planner in 2017.
