Men's Golf Set for Stanford Regional
5/11/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
MALIBU, California — On the 20th anniversary of its national title, the Pepperdine men's golf team will attempt to get back to the NCAA Championships with a strong showing at the upcoming NCAA Stanford Regional.
The Waves are the #5 seed and the regional's top five teams will move on to the NCAA Championships, which will be contested from May 26-31 at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove, Illinois. Pepperdine's 1997 NCAA championship took place in Illinois at Lake Forest's Conway Farms.
The best individual from a non-advancing team will also move on to nationals.
EVENT INFO — The NCAA Stanford Regional will be held at the par-70, 6,727-yard Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, California. There will be one round each day between Monday and Wednesday (May 15-17). For Monday's first round, the Waves will be paired with Georgia Tech and North Carolina and will start on the 10th tee beginning at 8:50 a.m. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.
FIELD — In order of seeding, and with Golfstat rankings shown, the 13-team field consists of #4 Stanford, #9 Baylor, #15 Oklahoma, #21 Georgia Tech, #27 Pepperdine, #33 North Carolina, #41 North Florida, #45 BYU, #51 Houston, #58 Ohio State, #66 UC Santa Barbara, Sacramento State and South Dakota State.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup will feature sophomore Sahith Theegala (Chino Hills, Calif./Diamond Bar HS), sophomore Roy Cootes (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS), freshman Clay Feagler (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS), freshman Joshua McCarthy (Danville, Calif./De La Salle HS) and senior Robbie Geibel (Pembroke Pines, Fla./American Heritage HS/Louisville).
The three veterans were all in the lineup for last year's NCAA Franklin Regional (Theegala T-18th, Cootes T-56th, Geibel T-72nd), while Geibel also had a T-13th at the 2014 Auburn Regional when he was at Louisville.
This season's scoring averages are as follows: Theegala 71.03, Cootes 72.03, Feagler 72.60, McCarthy 72.92, Geibel 74.70. If the season ended today, the Waves' single-season records list would include Theegala at #4, Cootes at #8 and Feagler at #18.
RANKINGS — Pepperdine is #27 in Golfstat and #35 in Golfweek/Sagarin. Sahith Theegala is #19 in Golfstat and #39 in Golfweek/Sagarin. Roy Cootes is #100 in Golfstat and #111 in Golfweek/Sagarin.
NCAA HISTORY — Pepperdine has qualified for the NCAA Championships eight times out of its previous 21 NCAA Regional appearances. The Waves are playing in a regional for the third straight season and this is the 22nd regional appearance in 26 years. The last time the Waves advanced to nationals was 2011.
Most notably, the Waves won the 1997 NCAA Championships, held at Conway Farms in Lake Forest, Illinois. That's one of three top-10 finishes in program history.
Pepperdine's best NCAA Regional finish was fourth place both in 1996 (at Stanford) and 2011. Waves have won medalist honors at NCAA Regionals twice: current head coach Michael Beard in 2000 and Josh Anderson in 2012. Anderson's victory came on the Stanford course.
This is the third time that Pepperdine's full team has been sent to Stanford for a regional. The Waves advanced with a fourth-place finish in 1996, but tied for 10th place before losing in a playoff in 2005.
POSTSEASON HONORS — Sahith Theegala is the WCC co-Player of the Year and a semifinalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award. Michael Beard earned his second straight WCC Coach of the Year honor. Theegala was joined on the All-WCC first team by Roy Cootes, Clay Feagler and Joshua McCarthy. The Waves led all schools with four first-team selections. It was the seventh time in program history with at least four players on the first team, and the first time since 2005.
ROSTER — Former Pepperdine All-American Michael Beard, ta two-time WCC Coach of the Year, is in his fifth season as the Waves' head coach. The nine-man roster breakdown is three seniors, one junior, two sophomores and three freshmen (six returning letterwinners and three newcomers). Four of the five players are back that helped the Waves finish second at the 2016 WCC Championships, advance to the NCAA Franklin Regional and finish with the program's best end-of-year ranking (#41) in the past five years.
MORE THEEGALA — Sophomore Sahith Theegala has a career scoring average of 71.04, which is on a pace to rank him #1 all-time at Pepperdine. Thirty-three of his 68 career rounds have been below-par. He's finished in the top 20 at 17 of 24 career tournaments.
He was the 2016 WCC Freshman of the Year and made the All-WCC first team. His scoring average of 71.06 last year set a Pepperdine freshman record by two full strokes and ranked him fourth overall on the Waves' single-season list.
Theegala was named the WCC Golfer of the Month for February and March 2017, as well as the Southern Golf Association's Amateur of the Month for February for both his PGA and collegiate success.
He earned an exemption into the PGA Tour's 2017 Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club in February after winning the Collegiate Showcase the week of the event. He made the cut and finished in a tie for 49th place with a 2-under 282 (67-73-71-71). Less than two weeks later, Theegala earned his first college victory at the Southwestern Invitational with a 10-under 206.
He made the quarterfinals of the 2016 U.S. Amateur (meaning he'll return to Riviera for the 2017 event), and won the Junior World Golf Championships three times (at the ages of 6, 8 and 10).
MORE COOTES — Roy Cootes was All-WCC honorable mention as a freshman last season and his scoring average of 72.54 was the second-best mark ever by a Pepperdine freshman. He's followed that up with another excellent season, and his career scoring average of 72.29 is on a pace to rank #3 in program history. He has 33 career below-par rounds, tied with Theegala for ninth place on the Waves' all-time list.
MORE PLAYER NOTES — Four different Waves (Sahith Theegala, Roy Cootes, Clay Feagler and Joshua McCarthy) have posted a top-three finish this season ... Robbie Geibel earned 2016 All-WCC honorable mention status in his first season at Pepperdine. He was the 2014 American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year at Louisville ... In addition to Theegala, freshmen Feagler and McCarthy also played at the 2016 U.S. Amateur. McCarthy was listed by Golfweek as among the nation's top 15 freshmen to watch. Feagler and McCarthy are currently on pace to rank #3 and #4, respectively, on Pepperdine's freshman single-season scoring average list. McCarthy's seven top-20 finishes have tied the second-most ever by a Pepperdine freshman (the record is eight).
SOUTHWESTERN INVITATIONAL — Pepperdine won its own Southwestern Invitational at North Ranch Country Club in February in dominating fashion, beating second-place USC by 16 strokes. It was the Waves' first win since the 2015 WCC Championships, the first regular-season win since the 2010 Husky Invitational and the largest margin of victory since the 2002 WCC Championships. Five Waves finished in the top 15: Sahith Theegala (medalist), Clay Feagler (T-3rd), Roy Cootes (T-8th), Joshua McCarthy (14th) and Hunter Epson (T-15th).
WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS — The Waves pushed host BYU and posted an impressive team score of 17-under, but the Cougars held on to win by seven strokes on their own course at the WCC Championships in April. Roy Cootes tied for seventh and Robbie Geibel tied for 11th.
RECORD WATCH — A few new entries have been logged in the Waves' record book: The sixth-best (-23 MacKenzie) and ninth-best (-21 Southwestern) 54-hole team scores ... A school-record (-24 MacKenzie) and the fifth-best (-20 Southwestern) 36-hole scores ... The fourth-best (-14 MacKenzie second round) and fifth-best (-13 Southwestern first round) 18-hole scores ... Sahith Theegala tied the eighth-best single-round score (-7, MacKenzie) and has the second-best (-12 Southwestern) and third-best (-11 MacKenzie) 36-hole scores.
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 and 2017. 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 fifth 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 is on Twitter (@PeppGolf), Facebook (/PeppGolf) and Instagram (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 22 of the last 26 years. In the West Coast Conference, they've won a league-best 18 championships since 1987 and have finished either first or second in 24 of the last 31 years. The Waves have been successful sending players to the pros and had a program-best four alums on the PGA Tour in 2015, while Jason Gore and Michael Putnam were 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 #50 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
Players Mentioned
