Men's Golf Collects Multiple WCC Postseason Awards
4/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
MALIBU, Calif. " The Pepperdine men's golf team earned multiple postseason honors from the West Coast Conference today, including Coach of the Year for Michael Beard and Freshman of the Year for Sahith Theegala, plus All-WCC first team status for Theegala and Frederick Wedel.
A total of four Pepperdine student-athletes received recognition as Roy Cootes and Robbie Geibel picked up All-WCC honorable mention notice.
It's the first Coach of the Year award for Beard, who is in his fourth season. He's led the Waves to a record-setting campaign with nine top-five finishes and a current ranking of #35 by Golfweek/Sagarin, on pace to the best for the squad since 2010.
Theegala (Chino Hills, Calif./Diamond Bar HS) is ranked 98th by Golfstat. He has a scoring average of 71.14 (on pace to rank #4 on the Waves' single-season list). Fourteen of his 29 rounds have been below-par this season, and he's had six top-20 finishes in 10 events. He's the fifth Wave to earn the WCC Freshman of the Year award and the first since Andrew Putnam in 2008.
Wedel (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands HS), a senior, made the All-WCC first team for the second straight year, and was also honorable mention as a sophomore. He ranks 73rd by Golfstat and has a scoring average of 71.06 (on pace to rank #3 on the Waves' single-season list). He's had five top-10 and seven top-20 finishes, and 17 of his 35 rounds have been below-par.
Cootes (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS), a freshman, has posted a 72.47 scoring average with three top-10 and six top-20 results, plus 14 below-par rounds.
Geibel (Pembroke Pines, Fla./American Heritage HS/Louisville), a junior in his first season at Pepperdine, has a 72.77 scoring average along with two top-10 and three top-20 finishes, along with 10 below-par rounds.
The Waves came in second place at this week's WCC Championships. Wedel took seventh place, while Cootes and Geibel tied for ninth place. Pepperdine had a remarkable finish considering the fact that the Waves only had four players in the lineup after Theegala withdrew due to a hand injury.
NCAA Regional bids will be announced on Thursday, May 5, at 6:30 a.m. on the Golf Channel.
Here's a look at the full list of awards:
Co-Players of the Year: Jonathan De Los Reyes (Saint Mary's) and Sean Walsh (Gonzaga); Coach of the Year: Michael Beard (Pepperdine); WCC medalist: Jonathan De Los Reyes (Saint Mary's); Freshman of the Year: Sahith Theegala (Pepperdine).
All-WCC first team: Alex Chiarella (San Diego), Perry Cohen (Saint Mary's), Seb Crookall-Nixon (San Francisco), Jonathan De Los Reyes (Saint Mary's), Michiel Eyre (Santa Clara), Patrick Fishburn (BYU), Hayden Shieh (Santa Clara), Sahith Theegala (Pepperdine), Sean Walsh (Gonzaga), Frederick Wedel (Pepperdine).
All-WCC honorable mention: Connor Blick (Saint Mary's), Roy Cootes (Pepperdine), Robbie Geibel (Pepperdine).
