Waves Set for Next Week's NCAA Franklin Regional
5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
MALIBU, Calif. -- The Pepperdine men's golf team has tied a school record with nine top-five finishes this season, and the Waves will be looking to record one more at the upcoming NCAA Regional hosted by Vanderbilt.
Only the top five teams at the regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, which are set for May 27-June 1 at the Eugene (Ore.) Country Club. The Waves, coming off a short-handed second-place showing at the West Coast Conference Championships, received an at-large bid and are the seventh seed.
Pepperdine, the 1997 NCAA champion, is playing in an NCAA Regional for the 21st time in 25 years.
EVENT INFO -- The NCAA Franklin Regional will be held at the par-72, 7,190-yard Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn. Teams will play a single round each day between Monday and Wednesday (May 16-18). Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com.
For Monday's first round, the Waves will start on the first tee at 8:55 a.m. CT and will be paired with Kennesaw State and Michigan.
FIELD -- In order of their seeding, the 13-team tournament includes Texas, Vanderbilt, LSU, Washington, Virginia, Houston, Pepperdine, Kennesaw State, Michigan, Troy, East Carolina, Tennessee-Martin and Georgetown.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP -- The Waves' lineup consists of senior Frederick Wedel (The Woodlands, Texas/The Woodlands HS), freshman Sahith Theegala (Chino Hills, Calif./Diamond Bar HS), freshman Roy Cootes (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS), junior Robbie Geibel (Pembroke Pines, Fla./American Heritage HS/Louisville) and junior Cody McManus (Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista HS).
RANKINGS -- Pepperdine is ranked #36 by Golfweek/Sagarin and #38 by Golfstat ... Frederick Wedel is ranked #80 by Golfstat and #91 by Golfweek/Sagarin ... Sahith Theegala is ranked #101 by Golfstat and #107 by Golfweek/Sagarin.
NCAA HISTORY -- Pepperdine has qualified for the NCAA Championships eight times out of its previous 20 NCAA Regional appearances. The Waves are playing in a regional for the second straight year. The last time the Waves advanced was 2011.
Most notably, the Waves won the 1997 NCAA Championships, held at Conway Farms in Lake Forest, Ill. That's one of three top-10 finishes in program history.
Pepperdine's best NCAA Regional finish was fourth place in 1996 and 2011. Waves have won medalist honors at NCAA Regionals twice: current head coach Michael Beard in 2000 and Josh Anderson in 2012.
Three Waves in the lineup have previous NCAA Regional experience. Frederick Wedel tied for 33rd in 2015 and was 66th in 2014 (as an individual). Cody McManus tied for 58th in 2015. While at Louisville, Robbie Geibel had a tie for 13th in 2014.
WCC HONORS -- Head coach Michael Beard was named the WCC Coach of the Year. Sahith Theegala was named the Freshman of the Year and he was joined on the All-WCC first team by Frederick Wedel. Roy Cootes and Robbie Geibel were All-WCC honorable mention.
WEDEL -- Senior Frederick Wedel is a two-time All-WCC first team selection (2015 and 2016) and also received honorable mention status in 2014. He is currently fifth all-time at Pepperdine with a career scoring average of 72.74. On other career charts, he ranks tied for fourth in career below-par rounds (44), tied for eighth in top-10 finishes (14), tied for ninth in top-20 results (20) and ninth in rounds played (137).
His 2015-16 scoring average of 71.06 would be #3 on the Waves' single-season list if he keeps it up. He's had five top-10 and seven top-20 finishes this season, and has been under par in 17 of 35 rounds. He tied for second at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational and tied for third at The Prestige at PGA West. Wedel was named the WCC's Golfer of the Month for October 2015.
Last season, Wedel posted the ninth-best single-scoring season in program history (72.52).
As a junior, Wedel set the Pepperdine 54-hole record with a 20-under 196 (64-63-69) in winning the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational, and his 9-under 63 in the second round tied the school's 18-hole record. He holds the two-best 54-hole scores in school history after finishing with a 16-under 197 this season at the 2015 Alister MacKenzie Invitational.
He played in his second straight U.S. Amateur Championship this past summer (he made the semifinals of the 2014 event).
THEEGALA -- Freshman Sahith Theegala has had a brilliant first year thus far and was named WCC Freshman of the Year, as well as to the All-WCC first team. His scoring average of 71.14 is on a pace to rank #4 on the Waves' single-season list. Fourteen of his 29 rounds have been below par. He's had six top-20 finishes in 10 events, including a tie for fourth at the Bill Cullum Invitational. He had to withdraw from the WCC Championships after suffering a hand injury during the first round, but he's back in the lineup for the NCAA Regional. Theegala won the Junior World Golf Championships three times (at the ages of 6, 8 and 10).
COOTES -- Freshman Roy Cootes is third on the team with a 72.47 scoring average. He made the All-WCC honorable mention team. He's had six top-20 finishes and 14 below-par rounds, including ties for eighth place at both the Alister MacKenzie Invitational and the Western intercollegiate. Cootes was a three-time Daily Breeze Player of the Year.
GEIBEL -- Junior Robbie Geibel, a transfer from Louisville, was the 2014 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. His first year at Pepperdine has been a good one thus far, including All-WCC honorable mention status. He has a 72.77 scoring average and three top-20 finishes, including a tie for fourth place at the Primland Collegiate Invitational.
McMANUS -- Junior Cody McManus was medalist at the WCC Championships in 2015. He earned All-WCC first team honors in 2015 and was honorable mention in 2013. He has a scoring average of 73.17 this season. He had a season-best tie for 11th place at this year's WCC Championships.
RECORDS FALL -- The Waves have rewritten the record book this season. Pepperdine posted seven straight top-five finishes to set a new school record (the old mark was six in the spring of 1996). The Waves also finished at par or better in each of those seven events. Before that run, it has never happened more than twice in a row, and eight times in a single season is a program record (the old mark was five in 2002-03). The Waves have a total of nine top-five finishes (tying the school record also set in 1995-96 and 2001-02). There have also been some outstanding scores to add to the record book, including: • Low 54 (#1): -33 at Alister MacKenzie Invitational • Low 54 (#8): -20 at Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational • Low 54 (#10-tied): -17 at Bill Cullum Invitational • Low 36 (#1): -23 at Alister MacKenzie Invitational • Low 36 (#2-tied): -21 at Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational • Low 18 (#2-tied): -17 at Alister MacKenzie Invitational • Low 18 (#2-tied): at Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational • Low 18 (#4): -14 at Bill Cullum Invitational
ROSTER -- Former Pepperdine All-American Michael Beard is in his fourth season as the Waves' head coach. The roster breakdown is two seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and three freshmen. The Waves have five returning letterwinners, one transfer and three true freshmen.
SOUTHWESTERN JONES INVITATIONAL -- The last two seasons, the Waves brought back a home tournament and called it the Jones Invitational. It has now merged with the long-time Southwestern Intercollegiate, held at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif., and is titled the Southwestern Jones Invitational. Fifteen teams converged on the course on February 29 and March 1. USC was victorious and the Waves came in second.
BEARD -- Michael Beard returned to Pepperdine in December 2012 after spending the previous season-and-a-half as an assistant at Arizona State. He earned WCC Coach of the Year honors in 2016. Beard competed for the Waves between 1999-2002 and was a GCAA All-American honorable mention selection in both 2000 and 2002. He was the medalist at the 2000 NCAA West Regional and the 2002 WCC Championships and was a four-time All-WCC first teamer. He still ranks first in total rounds played (162) and fourth in career scoring average (72.72) at Pepperdine. After playing professionally for several years, he served as an assistant coach at Pepperdine for one season and helped the Waves to make the 2011 NCAA Championships.
FOLLOW ONLINE -- The squad has sites on both Twitter (@PeppGolf) and Facebook (/PeppGolf). You can also follow the coaches at @CoachMBeard and @Akirakossian on Twitter.
PEPPERDINE GOLF HISTORY -- Thanks to its victory at the 1997 NCAA Championships, Pepperdine will always be known on a national level for its outstanding men's golf program. The Waves have made eight appearances at the NCAA Championships since 1993 and have achieved NCAA Regional berths in 21 of the last 25 years. In the West Coast Conference, they've won a league-best 18 championships since 1987 and have finished either first or second in 23 of the last 30 years. The Waves have been successful sending player to the pros and had a program-best four alums on the PGA Tour in 2015, while Jason Gore and Michael Putnam remain on the top tour in 2016.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY -- Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports -- one of just 17 schools to have accomplished this feat -- and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 25 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #52 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
