VALLEJO, Calif. - The most successful program in the history of West Coast Conference men's golf returned to the top of the leaderboard as Pepperdine won the 2010 WCC Championships by five strokes on Tuesday.
The Waves won their league-leading 17th league title and their first since 2007. They led wire-to-wire at the par-72 Hiddenbrooke Golf Course, and their total of 887 (290-294-303) edged San Diego's 892.
"Our goal was to come up here and bring the title back to Malibu, and we accomplished it," said Pepperdine Coach John Geiberger, who won his 10th title as head coach. "It wasn't our best performance because we were a little sloppy but it was good enough to beat everybody else. I'm proud of our guys for hanging in there. It was a good team effort. The conditions were tough with the cold and the wind, as you can tell by the scores.
Pepperdine led by six strokes after the first round and 11 after the second round. Pepperdine had a double-digit lead for most of Tuesday before the Toreros narrowed the gap toward the end of the round.
Senior Carl Smith (Laguna Beach, Calif./Santa Margarita HS) led the Waves with a career-best second-place finish. He had Pepperdine's best round of the day a 1-over 73, and finished with a 2-over 218 (72-73-73). His round included a double-eagle on the par-5 12th hole, and he finished his round with a birdie on the 18th. He finished two strokes behind the winner, Gunner Wiebe of San Diego.
"Overall, Carl did a great job," Geiberger said. "He was a steadying force for us, especially today. I told him we're going to put the ball from his double-eagle in the trophy room because it's the first one I've seen at Pepperdine. That's more infrequent than a hole-in-one. He hit an 8-iron downwind, it hit the fringe perfectly and it rolled right toward the hole and disappeared."
Sophomore Josh Anderson (Temecula, Calif./Murrieta Valley HS) was the leader after two rounds and had a one-stroke lead heading down the stretch, but had to settle for fourth place with a 4-over 220 (71-72-77). He had four birdies during his final round.
Junior Andrew Putnam (University Place, Wash./Life Christian Academy) tied for ninth place at 225 (71-74-80), senior Shane Mason (San Diego, Calif./St. Augustine HS) finished in 14th at 227 (76-75-76) and junior Andrew Widmar (El Paso, Calif./Cathedral HS) tied for 17th place at 230 (77-76-77).
Pepperdine would have qualified for the NCAA postseason regardless of the outcome, but the Waves gain the WCC's automatic bid with the victory. The field will be announced on May 10 and NCAA Regional play will be held May 20-22.
Team Results: 1. Pepperdine 290-294-303=887; 2. San Diego 298-298-296=892; 3. Santa Clara 296-300-300=896; 4. San Francisco 299-296-303=898; 5. Saint Mary's 298-303-302=903; T6. Gonzaga 314-309-320=943; T6. Portland 308-319-316=943; 8. Loyola Marymount 322-311-317=950.
Top Individuals: 1. Gunner Wiebe (San Diego) 73-71-72=216; 2. Carl Smith (Pepperdine) 72-73-73=218; 3. Ji Hwan Park (San Francisco) 71-72-77=220; 4. Josh Anderson (Pepperdine) 71-72-77=220; 5. Cory Mehl (Santa Clara) 76-74-71=221.
Other Pepperdine Scores: T9. Andrew Putnam 71-74-80=225; 14. Shane Mason 76-75-76=227; T17. Andrew Widmar 77-76-77=230.
