Sept. 10, 2010
Pepperdine Women's Golf Notes 
MALIBU, Calif. -- Pepperdine begins the 2010-11 season next week as many of the best women's golf programs in the country will gather at the NCAA Fall Preview, hosted by Texas A&M and at the site of the 2011 NCAA Championships. All 18 teams are ranked among Golfweek's preseason top 30.
COURSE/SCHEDULE -- The NCAA Fall Preview will be held at the par-72, 6,271-yard Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas. Eighteen holes will be played each day between Monday and Wednesday (Sept. 13-15).
FIELD -- Eighteen teams, 15 of which placed in the top 25 at last year's NCAA Championships, are at the event: Alabama, Auburn, Duke, Georgia, LSU, Michigan State, Pepperdine, Purdue, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia and Wake Forest. Arizona State will send individuals to the tournament.
RANKINGS -- In the preseason rankings, Pepperdine is #11 by Golf World/NGCA and #14 by Golfweek.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP -- The lineup for this event consists of seniors Martine de Gannes (Diego Martin, Trinidad), Taylore Karle (Scottsdale, Ariz.), junior Kaitlin Drolson (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.), sophomore Danielle Kang (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) and freshman Liv Cheng (Auckland, New Zealand). Three of the five (de Gannes, Drolson, Karle) were in Pepperdine's opening-day lineup one year ago. Cheng is making her collegiate debut.
RESULTS -- Live scoring will be provided at www.golfstat.com.
2010-11 HONORS -- Danielle Kang ranks #2 on Golfweek's preseason list of the nation's top individuals and #6 on Golf World's top 50 players to watch list.
2010-11 ROSTER -- A roster of four returning players is bolstered by two new freshmen to give the Waves a total of six student-athletes. The roster breakdown is two seniors, one junior, one sophomore and two freshmen.
KANG -- Ever since Danielle Kang (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake HS) completed high school early in order to enroll at Pepperdine in January 2010, it's been one notable achievement after another, capped off by a victory at the U.S. Women's Amateur this summer. As a collegian, Kang won her second event (the Bruin Wave Invitational) and earned All-American second team honors from Golfweek after tying for 15th place at the 2010 NCAA Championships. Also this summer, she qualified for the U.S. Open for the second time and was one of only six amateurs to make the cut, had a second-place showing at the Canadian Women's Amateur and was the medalist of the stroke-play portion of the U.S. Junior Golf Championship before falling in the quarterfinals.
GIBBS -- Recognized by her peers as one of the top collegiate women's golf coaches in the country, Laurie Gibbs is in her 18th season as head coach of the Pepperdine women's golf team. Under Gibbs, the Waves have appeared in the NCAA Championships 10 times, with eight top 10 finishes and four top five showings, including a program-best second-place result in 2003. Her players have earned All-American honors 20 times. Gibbs has led Pepperdine to West Coast Conference championships in 12 of the last 13 years, including a current streak of nine titles that began in 2002. Gibbs has been honored 10 times as the WCC's Coach of the Year, was tabbed the West Region Coach of the Year on two occasions and was selected the 2004-05 National Coach of the Year by Golfweek magazine.
2009-10 RECAP -- Another successful season went into the books as the Waves finished with a #9 ranking by Golfweek/Sagarin, tied for 14th place at the NCAA Championships and won their ninth straight WCC title. Pepperdine won three tournaments in all and had medalists at three events.
PEPPERDINE GOLF HISTORY -- The last decade-plus has established Pepperdine as one of the nation's top golf programs. The Waves have appeared in the NCAA Championships 10 times in 12 years, with eight top 10 finishes and four top five showings, including a program-best second-place result in 2003. The Waves have won West Coast Conference championships in 12 of the last 13 years, including a current streak of nine titles that began in 2002. LPGA Tour players have included Katherine Hull, Lindsey Wright, Tamie Durdin, Misun Cho and Carolina Llano.
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.
