Waves Have Short Trip Ahead for Next Tournament
Click on the above video player for an interview with Pepperdine's Josh Anderson.
Pepperdine Tournament Notes (PDF)
October 9, 2009
MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine men's golf team heads into its third of four fall tournaments this weekend when the Waves take a short trip east to compete in The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif.
Stanford and UC Davis are the co-hosts of the event at the par-72, 7,026-yard Stadium Course at PGA West. It runs Sunday through Tuesday (Oct. 11-13) with 18 holes each day. Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com.
Thirteen teams are competing at The Prestige. In addition to Pepperdine and the hosts, the others are Central Florida, Hawai'i, Long Beach State, Notre Dame, San Diego, TCU, UCLA, USC, Washington and Vanderbilt.
"It's a tough course and it's new in the tournament's rotation," Pepperdine Coach John Geiberger said. "It's the famous Stadium Course with the island green on 17. It's known as one of the the toughest courses in the United States. If you play well you can still shoot a good score, but there are places where it's easy to go wrong."
The Waves are coming off a tie for fourth place at the Rees Jones Intercollegiate in South Carolina just a few days ago. They wrap up their fall season later this month at the David Toms Intercollegiate in Louisiana. Geiberger is happy to have his team get back on the links soon after the last tournament.
"The travel was tough getting back from South Carolina, but you don't want to have to sit on a so-so performance for a couple of weeks," he said. "We had that tournament, we've got this one, and then one more two weeks later. With only two tournaments left we've got to see what we can do with them. Everybody's ready to go."
The same five players that went to South Carolina will compete at The Prestige at PGA West: seniors Shane Mason and Carl Smith, junior Andrew Putnam, sophomore Josh Anderson and redshirt freshman Johnny MacArthur.
Mason (San Diego, Calif./St. Augustine HS) had a career-best showing at the Rees Jones Intercollegiate, tying for fourth place. He leads the squad with a 72.67 stroke average after six rounds. He was a 2009 All-WCC honorable mention selection.
"Shane's been doing well since the end of last spring and he's off to a good start," Geiberger said. "All his hard work is starting to show and he's realizing that. He's a senior and there's no tomorrow for him."
Anderson (Temecula, Calif./Murrieta Valley HS), an All-WCC first teamer last season and the West Coast Conference's Player of the Month for September 2009, is second on the squad with a 74.17 stroke average. Putnam (University Place, Wash./Life Christian Academy), an All-American the past two seasons and the 2009 WCC Player of the Year, is third with a 74.67 stroke average.
Smith (Laguna Beach, Calif./Santa Margarita HS), a two-time All-WCC honorable mention selection, is averaging 76.17 strokes per round. MacArthur (Newhall, Calif./Hart HS) made his collegiate debut last week and tied for 48th place at the Rees Jones Intercollegiate.
Olin Browne (Tequesta, Fla./Benjamin School), a senior, will make his season debut as an individual at the tournament.
2009-10 ROSTER - Last season, the Waves had no seniors, so this season, they haven't added any newcomers. In terms of eligibility, Pepperdine has four seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and one redshirt freshman.
JOHN GEIBERGER - The 2009-10 season marks John Geiberger's 14th as head coach of Pepperdine. In his first season as coach of the Waves, Geiberger led the team to the 1997 NCAA national title, the first in team history. Under Geiberger's guidance, Pepperdine has won the WCC title nine times (1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007) and he has earned the league's Coach of the Year honors on five occasions (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2005).
2008-09 RECAP - Andrew Putnam was named the West Coast Conference's Player of the Year and a PING All-American honorable mention. He was joined on the All-WCC first team by Josh Anderson. The Waves tied for third at the WCC Championships and were 12th at the NCAA South Central Regional. They won the Arizona Intercollegiate in February 2009.
PEPPERDINE GOLF HISTORY - Following the blueprint of other athletics programs at Pepperdine, the men's golf team blossomed as a nationally recognized program and the Waves reached the pinnacle of success in May 1997 by winning the NCAA title for the first time. Pepperdine has made seven appearances at the NCAA Championships since 1993, has made 11 consecutive NCAA Regional berths and has won 16 of the last 23 West Coast Conference Championships.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE - Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men's sports - one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine's teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.
