ALPHARETTA, Georgia – The Pepperdine men's golf team finished strong and won its first tournament of the season at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate on Sunday, while Joe Highsmith captured his second career individual title.
 
The Waves had a three-day total of a 42-under 822 (275-275-272) at the par-72 Golf Club of Georgia and finished four shots better than Texas A&M.
 
Pepperdine began the day four shots ahead of the Aggies but the two teams were neck-and-neck for almost the entirety of the final round. But down the stretch, Pepperdine's four scoring players went 8-under on 16, 17 and 18, while Texas A&M was at 3-under. On 18 alone, the Waves carded two eagles (one by the non-scorer) and three birdies.
 
The Waves' total of 42-under is the fifth-best score in program history. It broke the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate record by 14 shots.
 
Highsmith also won by four shots with a 19-under 197. That total is the third-best 54-hole score in program history, and broke the GCOG record by four strokes.
 
The tournament featured eight teams currently in Golfstat's top 25. Pepperdine won a program-record six tournaments last season en route to claiming the national championship.
 
PLAYER SCORES

• Senior Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) earned his first college win at last season's Western Intercollegiate. He began the day with a two-shot lead and finished with a four-shot win with his 19-under 197 (63-65-69). He briefly dropped into second after a double-bogey on 6, but then birdied 7, 8 and 9 to go back in front. He added two more birdies and just one bogey on the back nine to finish at 3-under on the day and wrap up the win. Highsmith had a tournament-best 23 birdies and was the top-scoring player on both par 4s (-9) and par 5s (-10).
• Junior William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS) tied for sixth place with a 10-under 206 (70-69-67). His final round began with eight straight pars. He then had four birdies before an eagle on the par-5 18th hole to finish at 5-under on the day.
• Senior Joey Vrzich (El Cajon, Calif./Christian HS/Nevada) tied for 13th with a 6-under 210 (69-73-68). He was 1-over after seven holes but was flawless the rest of the way and posted five birdies en route to a score of 4-under.
• Junior Dylan Menante (Carlsbad, Calif./Sage Creek HS) tied for 19th with a 4-under 212 (74-70-68). He didn't make a mistake on Sunday, posting four birdies and 14 pars to score 4-under. Two of the birdies came on the first four holes, and then after 12 straight pars, he birdied the final two holes.
• Senior Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) tied for 29th with a 1-under 215 (73-71-71). His second straight 1-under 71 included two birdies and an eagle on the final hole.

UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine stays in Georgia and is in action the next three days (Monday-Wednesday, Oct. 25-27) at the prestigious East Lake Cup in Atlanta. The Waves won this event last year. It brings together the final four teams from the 2021 NCAA Championships: Pepperdine, Oklahoma, Arizona State and Oklahoma State. There will be live Golf Channel coverage each day between 12-3 p.m. PT.
 
THE NUMBERS
 
Team Scores: 1. Pepperdine 822; 2. Texas A&M 826; 3. Wake Forest 841; 4. Tennessee 842; 5. Stanford 846; T6. Georgia Tech 850; T6. Virginia 850; 8. Duke 851; T9. Clemson 856; T9. East Tennessee State 856; 11. TCU 858; 12. Georgia Tech "B" 860; 13. UCLA 869; 14. USC 870; 15. Colorado State 900.
 
Top Individuals: 1. Joe Highsmith (Pepperdine) 197; 2. Alex Fitzpatrick (Wake Forest) 201; T3. Sam Bennett (Texas A&M) 204; T3. Karl Vilips (Stanford) 204; 5. Walker Lee (Texas A&M) 205.