ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico – Top-10 finishes by
Joshua McCarthy,
Joe Highsmith and
Clay Feagler helped the Pepperdine men's golf team to a third-place result at the season-opening William H. Tucker Intercollegiate on Saturday.
The Waves shot a 5-under 283 today and finished with a 13-under 851 (291-277-283) at the par-72 UNM Championship Course, three shots back of BYU and one behind UNLV.
PLAYER SCORES
- Junior Joshua McCarthy (Danville, Calif./De La Salle HS) shot a 6-under 66 on Saturday, the lowest of the day and tying the best round by any player in the tournament. That moved him up 16 spots, all the way to third place with a 7-under 209 (72-71-66). He had eight birdies, including each of his final three holes. McCarthy was second among all players on par-3s (-2) and tied for third on par-4s (-1).
- Making his college debut, freshman Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) had a tournament to remember as he tied for sixth place with a 4-under 212 (71-68-73). His final round included five birdies. He tied for second overall with 15 birdies. He shot a combined 10-under on the par-5s, tied for best in the tournament.
- Junior Clay Feagler (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) took eighth place with a 3-under 213 (74-67-72). He was 3-over at one point today but came back with three late birdies to get back to even-par.
- Freshman Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) also made his college debut and turned in a top-20 showing. He tied for 19th with a 1-over 217 (74-71-72). His even-par round included four birdies.
- Playing as an individual, senior Roy Cootes (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) tied for 32nd at 219 (73-73-73). Cootes recorded 38 pars over his three rounds, fourth-most in the tournament.
- Sophomore RJ Manke (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) tied for 43rd at 222 (74-73-75).
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Michael Beard said: "It feels nice to start off the season with a solid finish. It was close all day, and the way we finished I thought we were going to pull off the win. Our freshmen came out ready to play. Clay had some great stretches of birdies. Josh had a tough time on the greens the first two rounds but figured it out in the final round. It felt great to have five guys in it every round. We're really looking forward to Cal's tournament in two weeks."
UP NEXT
The Waves' second tournament of the fall is California's Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Fairfax, Calif., on October 8-9.
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: 1. BYU 286-279-283=848; 2. UNLV 279-283-288=850;
3. Pepperdine 291-277-283=851; 4. Arkansas 288-283-289=860; 5. New Mexico 297-277-288=862; 6. San Diego State 292-285-290=867; 7. Colorado 285-289-296=870; 8. Wyoming 293-290-292=875; 9. Coastal Carolina 296-295-298=889; T10. Denver 296-294-305=895; T10. Colorado State 299-302-294=895; 12. UT Arlington 300-303-293=896; 13. New Mexico State 291-300-312=903; T14. Loyola Marymount 298-303-305=906; T14. UTEP 302-301-303=906; 16. Nebraska 297-300-313=910; 17. Air Force 304-302-318=924.
Top Individuals: T1. Harry Hall (UNLV) 67-68-70=205; T1. Peter Kuest (BYU) 68-69-68=205;
3. Joshua McCarthy (Pepperdine) 72-71-66=209; T4. Mason Overstreet (Arkansas) 72-69-70=211; T4. Sam Choi (New Mexico) 72-68-71=211.
