Notes

MALIBU, California — The Pepperdine men's golf team is going from one of the nation's best events to another, tying for sixth place at last week's Southern Highlands Collegiate and now heading to the other side of the country for the Valspar Collegiate Invitational.

EVENT INFO — The Valspar Collegiate Invitational will be held at the par-71, 7,114-yard Floridian National Golf Club in Palm City, Florida. There will be one round each day between Sunday and Tuesday (March 18-20). Live scoring will be available on Golfstat.

FIELD — In addition to Pepperdine, the 16-team field also includes Arkansas, Baylor, Duke, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Lamar, LSU, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, South Florida, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas-Arlington and Wake Forest.

#21 Pepperdine is one of 10 top-25 teams in the field according to Golfweek/Sagarin, including the #1, #2 and #4 teams (Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, respectively). Thirteen of the 16 teams are in Golfweek/Sagarin's top 40.

PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup will feature sophomore Clay Feagler (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS), sophomore Joshua McCarthy (Danville, Calif./De La Salle HS), junior Sahith Theegala (Chino Hills, Calif./Diamond Bar HS), senior Anthony Cecere (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./St. Margaret's Episcopal School) and junior Roy Cootes (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS).

RANKINGS — Pepperdine is ranked #21 by Golfweek/Sagarin and #28 by Golfstat ... Individually, Sahith Theegala is #12 by Golfweek/Sagarin and #33 by Golfstat ... Clay Feagler is #56 by both Golfweek/Sagarin and Golfstat.

EVENT HISTORY — This is Pepperdine's first appearance at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational, which debuted in 2015.

THEEGALA — Junior Sahith Theegala is more than halfway toward one of the best careers in program history. The 2017 All-American ranks #1 all-time in scoring average (70.81) at Pepperdine through two-plus seasons.

Theegala already owns two of the top five single-season scoring averages in program history: 70.95 as a sophomore (#2) and 71.06 as a freshman (#5). He's having another great year with a 70.27 scoring average this season (which is on pace to be #1). He has 55 career below-par rounds, already tied for #2 in Pepperdine history, in 101 total rounds (he's had 17 in 26 rounds this season). He's finished in the top 20 in 26 of 35 career tournaments, including T-19th at the 2017 NCAA Championships. He has two career victories (the 2017 Southwestern Invitational and the 2018 Waves Challenge).

Theegala earned All-American third team status from the GCAA and honorable mention from Golfweek in 2017, and he was a semifinalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award. He was the 2017 WCC co-Player of the Year, the 2016 WCC Freshman of the Year and is a two-time All-WCC first teamer. He ranked #16 by Golfweek in the final 2017 individual ratings.

Theegala has been named to the USA's Arnold Palmer Cup team, which will play in France in July 2018. He's also on the Ben Hogan Award and Fred Haskins Award watch lists in 2017-18. He earned the WCC's first Player of the Month award of the season in September, which was the third such honor of his career. He won the spring-season-opening Waves Challenge by a Pepperdine-record 16 strokes.

FEAGLER — No one is hotter than Clay Feagler, who has begin the spring season with four consecutive top-four finishes, including his first college victory at the Prestige at PGA West. He shot a 7-under 135 over two rounds to win by one stroke. His scoring average is 71.50 this season.

McCARTHY — Joshua McCarthy is also having a nice stretch, with four top-10 and five top-20 finishes in his last six starts dating back to the fall. His "worst" finish this spring was a tie for 16th at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, and his best was second at the Waves Challenge. He's averaging 72.42 strokes.

COOTES — Roy Cootes ranks highly on some of Pepperdine's career leaderboards. The returning All-Region and All-WCC first teamer is seventh in career scoring average (72.82) and seventh in below-par rounds (38).

WAVES CHALLENGE — Pepperdine won its own Waves Challenge, played at Saticoy Country Club from January 29-30, by a program-record 37 shots. Sahith Theegala and Joshua McCarthy finished 1-2, although Theegala's 11-under 205 gave him a Pepperdine-record 16-shot victory.

RECENT HIGHLIGHTS — Sahith Theegala qualified for the 2017 U.S. Open (his second professional event of 2017 after he tied for 49th place at the PGA Tour's Genesis Open in February) ... Theegala, Roy Cootes, Clay Feagler and Joshua McCarthy all qualified for the 2017 U.S. Amateur, with Theegala reaching the Round of 32 (he was a quarterfinalist in 2016) ... Theegala won the 2017 Sahalee Players Championship ... During the winter break, three Waves placed in the top 20 at the Patriot All-America (McCarthy T-7th, Feagler T-11th, Cootes T-19th).

ROSTER — The eight-man roster breakdown is one senior, three juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen (five returning letterwinners and four newcomers). Four of the five players are back that helped the Waves finish second at the 2017 WCC Championships, third at the NCAA Stanford Regional and 13th at the NCAA Championships. All four — Sahith Theegala, Roy Cootes, Clay Feagler and Joshua McCarthy — made the 2017 All-WCC first team and all of them were also preseason All-WCC picks for 2018. They led the Waves to their first appearance at the NCAA Championships since 2011 and the program's best result since 2004.

BEARD — Former Pepperdine All-American Michael Beard, a two-time WCC Coach of the Year, is in his sixth season as the Waves' head coach. He 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. The Waves won the 2015 WCC title and advanced to the NCAA Championships in 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 has still played in more rounds (162) than anyone else in Pepperdine's history. 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 @CoachMBeard and @blainewoodruff 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 nine 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.

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 18 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, California, 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 #46 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.