Pepperdine University
Arizona Intercollegiate
Waves' Putnam Wins Arizona Intercollegiate
2/1/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 1, 2011
Arizona Intercollegiate Final Results 
TUCSON, Ariz. - Pepperdine senior Andrew Putnam won his second collegiate event with a 7-under 206 while the Waves' men's golf team took second place overall as the spring-season-opening Arizona Intercollegiate wrapped up on Tuesday.
Pepperdine and San Diego State were tied for first place after the first round, but the Aztecs were able to pull away and win the tournament with an 859 (285-286-288) to the Waves' 867 (285-289-293). Pepperdine finished two strokes ahead of third-place Arizona and Pacific.
"All in all, considering the format and the conditions, I'm a little surprised we finished as high as we did," Pepperdine Coach John Geiberger said. "We left a lot of shots out there. We could have won by a wide margin. But we ham and egged our scores really well. It's a tough course if you get off the fairways. We might have put 20 balls in the desert over three rounds. Andrew only hit one ball in the desert, and that's probably why he won the tournament."
Putnam (University Place, Wash./Life Christian Academy) led nearly wire to wire for his win. It was the first outright victory for the two-time All-American, as he was a tri-medalist at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate last October.
"I felt pretty good going into the tournament," Putnam said. "I kept it in front of me and didn't make any big mistakes. You definitely want to build some momentum, so winning here can only help toward the rest of the season. It's a good way to start the spring."
He led by two strokes after the first round due to a 6-under 65, still led by two strokes after the second round (which had to be completed on Tuesday after it was suspended by darkness on Monday evening) after an even-par 71 and won the tournament by three strokes ahead of Arizona's Stefan Cox after closing the event with a 1-under 70.
Putnam recorded his 33rd top 20 finish in 41 career tournaments (second all-time at Pepperdine) and his 19th top 10 result (fourth all-time at Pepperdine).
"Andrew played great," Geiberger said. "His first round was a good a round as I've seen anyone play in a long time. It wasn't his career-best round, but it was a good, solid, simple, easy round. He was playing it the right way. Winning the tournament is a great way for him to start the semester."
Along with a victory by junior Josh Anderson (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley HS) at the Husky Invitational, Pepperdine golfers have been medalists at three of the five events the Waves have played thus far in 2010-11.
Anderson, who competed last week at the PGA Tour's Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, went from there to Tucson. He tied for ninth place with a 4-over 217 (71-75-71). His third round included an eagle on the par-5 18th hole.
Senior Austyn Karle (Scottsdale, Ariz./Notre Dame Prep) posted a season-best finish with his tie for 23rd place, shooting 221 (78-68-75). His second round that was completed today included three birides and no bogeys. Sophomore Johnny Mac Arthur (Newhall, Calif./Hart HS) tied for 46th place at 228 (73-78-77) and senior Andrew Widmar (El Paso, Texas/Cathedral HS) tied for 72nd at 234 (76-75-83).
The Waves are back in action in another month, when they head just up the road to take part in the USC Intercollegiate in Westlake Village on February 28 and March 1.
Team Results: 1. San Diego State 285-286-288=859; 2. Pepperdine 285-289-293=867; T3. Arizona (B) 289-297-283=869; T3. Pacific 289-290-290=869; T5. UNLV 295-287-297=879; T5. Arizona 294-288-297=879; T5. New Mexico 294-288-297=879; 8. California 294-291-296=881; 9. UTEP 293-292-305=890; 10. Fresno State 299-289-304=892; 11. UC Irvine 301-298-301=900; 12. Brigham Young 317-292-292=901; 13. Texas-San Antonio 303-295-304=902; 14. UC Riverside 298-302-318=918; 15. Utah 302-315-309=926; 16. Hartford 326-330-317=973.
Top Individuals: 1. Andrew Putnam (Pepperdine) 65-71-70=206; 2. Stefan Cox (Arizona) 67-74-68=209; T3. Todd Baek (San Diego State) 71-72-68=211; T3. Derek Ernst (UNLV) 73-65-73=211; 5. Tom Carlson (New Mexico) 71-69-74=214.
Other Pepperdine Scores: T9. Josh Anderson 71-75-71=217; T23. Austyn Karle 78-68-75=221; T46. Johnny Mac Arthur 73-78-77=228; T72. Andrew Widmar 76-75-83=234.
Players Mentioned
