FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas – The Pepperdine men's golf team got off to a bit of a slow start at the 2019 NCAA Championships, as the Waves are in 26th place following Friday's first round.
The Waves recorded an opening score of 312 at the par-72 Blessings Golf Club.
The 30-team field will be cut to 15 after Sunday's third round and to eight after Monday's fourth and final round of stroke play. The Waves, who are currently seven strokes out of 15th and 14 strokes out of eighth, will be looking to somewhat duplicate their success at this spring's WCC Championships, when they began that tournament in seventh place and 15 shots out of the lead before coming back to win.
Pepperdine, the 1997 NCAA champion, is making its 10th appearance at the NCAA Championships.
PLAYER SCORES
- Freshman Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) continued his strong postseason play by posting the low round for the Waves. The WCC Freshman of the Year is tied for 53rd after a 76. Highsmith had a team-best three birdies, which came on 2, 8 and 10.
- Junior Clay Feagler (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) is tied for 87th after a 78. He birdied 16.
- Junior Joshua McCarthy (Danville, Calif./De La Salle HS) is tied for 105th after a 79. He birdied 3 and 5.
- Sophomore RJ Manke (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Preparatory School) is also tied for 105th after a 79. He birdied 9.
- Senior Roy Cootes (Rolling Hills, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) is tied for 140th after an 82. He birdied 1 and 4.
UP NEXT
The Waves will once again be paired with Louisville and North Florida for Saturday's second round. They'll tee off on #10 beginning at 12:32 p.m. CT (10:32 a.m. PT).
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: 1. Oklahoma State 290; 2. Stanford 291; T3. Auburn 292; T3. California 292; T5. Texas A&M 296; T5. Wake Forest 296; 7. Ohio State 297; 8. Texas 298; 9. Georgia 300; T10. Arizona State 302; T10. Clemson 302; T12. USC 304; T12. North Carolina 304; T14. Oklahoma 305; T14. Liberty 305; T14. South Carolina 305; T17. Georgia Tech 307; T17. Vanderbilt 307; T19. Georgia Southern 308; T19. SMU 308; T19. LSU 308; 22. North Florida 309; 23. UNLV 310; T24. TCU 311; T24. Illinois 311;
26. Pepperdine 312; T27. Duke 313; T27. Louisville 313; 29. Baylor 314; 30. BYU 322.
Top Individuals: 1. Collin Morikawa (California) 67; T2. Chun An Yu (Arizona State) 69; T2. Austin Eckroat (Oklahoma State) 69; T2. Kyler Dunkle (Utah) 69; 5. Isaiah Salinda (Stanford) 70.
Gallery: (5/24/2019) Men's Golf at NCAA Championships Round 1
