Pepperdine Opens Play At Thunderbird/ASU Invitational On Friday
4/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 7, 2005
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Malibu, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's golf team competes in its final tournament before next week's West Coast Conference (WCC) Championships when it travels to Tempe, Arizona, to take part in the Thunderbird / Arizona State Invitational that begins on Friday at the par-72, 7,037-yard Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Arizona.
The 54-hole tournament calls for a 7:30 a.m. (PDT) shotgun start on Friday when the teams will play 36 holes and concludes with the final 18 holes on Saturday beginning at 7 a.m. (PDT).
The 15-team field includes seven teams ranked in the Top 35 of Golfweek's latest rankings. Arizona (25), Arizona State (11), BYU (8), Pepperdine (34), Texas Tech (27), UCLA (14) and UNLV (4) are in the field along with a second Arizona State team, California, Colorado State, Hawaii, Kansas State, Oregon, Penn State and Stanford.
Host Arizona State is the two-time defending champion after posting an 11-shot victory over Arizona. The Waves placed fifth at last year's event.
Pepperdine, which has had a busy spring schedule, tied for seventh at the 14-team National Invitational Tournament at the Tucson National Golf Club in Tucson, Arizona, on March 29. Senior All-American Michael Putnam tied for second place, finishing one shot out of first place. The performance came one week after tying for individual medalist honors at the Oregon Duck Invitational in Eugene, Oregon, on March 22.
Following play at this weekend's Thunderbird/ASU Invitational, Pepperdine will travel to Northern California to compete in the eight-team WCC Championships at the Saddlecreek Golf Course in Copperoppolis, California. The Waves are the six-time defending champions after registering a two-shot victory over Saint Mary's at last year's conference championships. Puntnam was Pepperdine's top finisher, placing fourth.
Putnam, who is on pace to break his own Pepperdine record for the lowest single-season stroke average (71.00), enters this weekend's play with a 70.75 stroke average and is ranked No. 9 in the latest Golfstat rankings and No. 11 in Golfweek's ratings. The Tacoma, Washington, native was recently named the WCC's "Golfer of the Month" for March, marking the fourth time he has received the honor during the 2004-05 season.
PUTNAM NAMED TO PALMER CUP TEAM: Already one of 10 semifinalists for the 2005 Ben Hogan Award, given annually to the nation's top collegiate golf, Michael Putnam was selected to the 2005 Palmer Cup Team that will represent the United States at the annual Ryder Cup-style competition between American collegiate golfers and their counterparts from Europe. The competition will be conducted June 8-9 on the par-72, 7,201-yard Whistling Straits Irish Course in Ireland.
THE PROGRAM: Although historical records are sketchy, Pepperdine fielded its first-ever golf team in the late 1940's or early 1950's. The program was deemphasized in the early 1970's when the school relocated to Malibu, but was reinstituted as an intercollegiate sport in the fall of 1982. In 1987, Pepperdine achieved its first notable success, as the Waves upset several local collegiate powers and claimed the team championship of the Southern California Invitational at the Torrey Pines Country Club in San Diego. Pepperdine won its first-ever West Coast Conference (WCC) title that same year, and Jim Johnson earned a spot competing as an individual at the NCAA Championships--a first-time accomplishment for a Waves' player. Pepperdine has since won the WCC crown a total of 14 times--1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004--in the last 18 seasons. Additionally, the Waves have advanced to the NCAA West Regional Championships 11 times since 1992, and earned a spot in the 30-team NCAA Championships field six times in the last 11 years (1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002 and 2004). Pepperdine has emerged as a regular in the national Top 25 rankings since 1993, and climaxed the 1997 campaign by winning its first-ever NCAA team title.
John Geiberger: John Geiberger begins his ninth season as the Waves' head coach. During his rookie season in 1996-97, Geiberger directed Pepperdine to its first-ever NCAA men's golf title. A three-year letterwinner at Pepperdine from 1989-91, Geiberger was hired as the University's head men's golf coach in August of 1996. During Geiberger's collegiate career in Malibu, Pepperdine captured West Coast Conference (WCC) titles in 1989 and 1991, and he earned All-WCC accolades in 1990 and 1991. Geiberger earned a bachelor's degree in organizational communications from the University in 1993. In addition to playing in numerous amateur tournaments, Geiberger caddied for his father, Al, on a regular basis from 1991-96 on the PGA Senior Tour. Geiberger was tabbed the 1997 WCC "Coach of the Year" after leading the Waves to the league championship. Geiberger was selected the 1997 National and District 8 "Coach of the Year" by the Golf Coaches Association of America. Pepperdine has won the WCC title each of the last five seasons, and Geiberger has shared the league's "Coach of the Year" award in 1999, 2000 and 2002.
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 2004-05 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 men'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) 506-4445.
