Feb. 5, 2004
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The Pepperdine women's golf team begins a busy spring schedule when it opens play at the Ninth Annual Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge February 9-11 at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in nearby Palos Verdes Estates. The three-day 54-hole tournament, which is hosted by Ohio State, consists of 15 teams from the West, Central and East Regions.
The tournament showcases many of the nation's elite women's golf teams, including 12 schools that are ranked in the latest Golfweek Top 25 poll. Additionally, 14 of the 15 teams in the field competed in the 2003 NCAA Tournament, including defending tournament champion Pepperdine and USC, which finished first at last year's NCAA Championships.
Play begins at 9 a.m. on Monday, February 9, at the Par-71, 5,912-yard course. The tournament continues on Tuesday, February 10, and concludes with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start on Wednesday, February 11.
The Waves, who are currently ranked as high as No. 16 nationally in the latest Golf World poll, captured last year's event with a 36-hole score of 598 that began a stretch of five consecutive tournament titles and helped catapult them to a No. 1 national ranking.
Senior All-American Katherine Hull captured individual medalist honors a year ago with an even -par score of 144.
Pepperdine enters this year's tournament led by sophomore All-American Carolina Llano, who is currently the second-ranked player in the country according to Golfstat. In nine rounds of competition during the fall, Llano registered a 71.22 stroke average, trailing only Duke's Elizabeth Janangelo, who posted a 69.73 stroke average in 11 rounds.
Llano was the Waves' top individual in all three tournaments during the fall. She fired a career-best 6-under par 66 in the final round to capture individual medalist honors with a three-round score of 5-under par 221 at the NCAA Fall Preview Tournament and followed that performance with a third place finish at the Dick McGuire Invitational.
Llano tied for ninth at the Pepsi Stanford Intercollegiate after shooting a 2-under par score of 214.
Following next week's tournament, Pepperdine travels to Tucson, Arizona, to compete in the three-day, 54-hole Arizona Wildcat Invitational.
THE PROGRAM: The Pepperdine women's golf program is beginning its 19th season of intercollegiate play. Women's golf was added as an intercollegiate sport at Pepperdine prior to the start of the 1985-86 school year. The Waves burst on to the national scene during the 1998-99 campaign, advancing to the NCAA Championships for the first time where the team earned an impressive fifth place finish. Pepperdine kept the positive momentum going in 2000, finishing eighth at the NCAA Championships. Tamie Durdin earned All-American honors from the National Golf Coaches Association in 2000, becoming the first Pepperdine player to earn such distinction. Lindsey Wright was an honorable mention All-American pick. The Waves placed 14th at the NCAA Championships in 2001, and sophomores Katherine Hull and Lindsey Wright were both second team All-Americans. Pepperdine put together another solid season in 2002 tying for ninth place at the NCAA Championships. Hull and Wright were again tabbed All-Americans and Wright tied for second in the individual standings. The duo led Pepperdine to unprecedented heights in 2003, leading the Waves to a second place finish at the NCAA Championships. They were both tabbed All-Americans and Hull was chosen as the "National Golfer of the Year" by the NGCA. The Waves have been consistently ranked in the Top 15 nationally each of the last five seasons. The West Coast Conference (WCC) began sponsoring a women's golf championship for the first time in 1997, and Pepperdine finished second at the inaugural event behind San Francisco. The Waves have won five of the last six league titles, including 2003. Candida Kim was the first Pepperdine golfer to compete at the NCAA West Regional Championships, as she earned an at-large berth to the 1995 event. In 1998, Jenny Glasgow became just the second Pepperdine golfer to earn such distinction, competing in the NCAA West Regional Championships at the Stanford Golf Course.
Laurie Gibbs: Laurie Gibbs, a former teaching professional at the Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles, begins her 11th season as Pepperdine's head women's golf coach. Gibbs played collegiate golf at Long Beach State, and previously worked for three years as a PGA teaching professional at the Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles. Gibbs has directed the Waves to five consecutive Top 15 finishes at the NCAA Championships, including a best-ever second place finish at last year's NCAA Championships. Pepperdine won three consecutive West Coast Conference championships from 1998-2000 and captured the title again in 2001, 2002 and 2003. Gibbs was tabbed the league's "Coach of the Year" in 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003. Additionally, Gibbs was selected the 1999 Far West Region "Coach of the Year" by the National Golf Coaches Association and received "Co-Coach of the Year" honors by the organization in 2003. She has twice been selected the University's "Coach of the Year", garnering the award in 1998-99 and 2002-03.
SPORTS INFORMATION HOTLINE: For updated information concerning Pepperdine athletics, including results and a schedule of upcoming events, please contact the Pepperdine Sports Information Hotline at 310-506-7373. The hotline will be updated on a regular basis throughout the course of the 2003-04 school year.
ON THE WEB: For updated information concerning Pepperdine athletics on the Internet, including results and a schedule of upcoming events, please bookmark the following address: http://www.PepperdineSports.com.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: For additional information on the women's golf program, or to arrange interviews with players and the coaching staff, please contact Al Barba at the Pepperdine Sports Information Office by calling (310) 506-4455.
