Men's Golf Underway at WCC Championships

Thursday, April 25

Stockton, Calif.

All Day

Pepperdine University

WCC Championships

RJ Manke

Photo by: Kyle Terada

4/25/2019 5:14:00 PM | Men's Golf

Photo Gallery Round 1 Results

By: by Athletic Communications

STOCKTON, California – RJ Manke (3-under 69) and Joshua McCarthy (2-under 70) had excellent opening rounds at the West Coast Conference Championships on Thursday, but the defending champion Pepperdine men's golf team finds itself in a big hole as the Waves attempt to repeat.

Pepperdine shot a 1-over 289 at the par-72 Reserve at Spanos Park, putting the Waves into seventh place out nine teams. Pepperdine is only six shots out of third place but the leader, San Francisco, went 14-under and is 15 shots ahead of the Waves.

Pepperdine has won 19 WCC titles, more than any other program.

PLAYER SCORES

Sophomore RJ Manke (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Preparatory School) was flawless during the first day of competition, posting three birdies and zero bogeys. He's tied for fourth place with his 3-under 69. He birdied 6, 14 and 16. The score matched his best round of the spring season.
Junior Joshua McCarthy (Danville, Calif./De La Salle HS) is tied for seventh place after his 2-under 70. He got off to a great start with birdies on 1, 2 and 5 to go 3-under. He would post one more birdie on 11.
Freshman Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) is tied for 28th after a 73. He had four birdies on the day, two on the front nine and two on the back nine.
Junior Clay Feagler (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS), last year's medalist, is tied for 39th after a 77. He had five birdies on the day, twice on back-to-back holes, on 6 and 7 and later 10 and 11.
Sophomore Austin Murphy (Morgan Hill, Calif./Bellarmine College Preparatory) is also tied for 39th after a 77. He had four birdies on Thursday, including three in a row on holes 12, 13 and 14.

UP NEXT

In Friday's second round, the Waves will be in the first pairing to tee off beginning at 7:30 a.m. along with host Pacific and San Diego.

THE NUMBERS

Team Scores: 1. San Francisco 274; 2. BYU 278; 3. Saint Mary's 283; 4. Loyola Marymount 285; 5. Gonzaga 286; 6. Santa Clara 287; 7. Pepperdine 289; 8. Pacific 296; 9. San Diego 301.

Top Individuals: 1. Toby Briggs (San Francisco) 66; T2. Peter Kuest (BYU) 67; T2. Christopher Palsson (San Francisco) 67; T4. Raymond Navis (Loyola Marymount) 69; T4. Ryan Grauman (Saint Mary's) 69; T4. RJ Manke (Pepperdine) 69.

VIDEO | @rj_manke shot a 3-under 69 and is T-4th after the first round of the #WCCchamps. Here are his post-round thoughts:#WavesUp pic.twitter.com/Ak15NiPeKq
— Pepperdine Men's Golf (@PeppGolf) April 25, 2019