Monday, March 15
Palm City, Fla.
Pepperdine University
at
Valspar Collegiate
Clay Feagler
Photo by: Jeff Golden
Men's Golf Heads to Florida for Valspar Collegiate
3/12/2021 1:43:00 PM | Men's Golf
MALIBU, California — The #4 Pepperdine men's golf team heads to Florida for next week's Valspar Collegiate Invitational where the Waves will face another outstanding group of teams. Also, sophomore Dylan Menante was named to the Haskins Award's 15-member watch list today.
EVENT INFO — The Valspar will be held at the par-71, 7,114-yard Floridian National Golf Club in Palm City, Florida. There will be 36 holes on Monday and the final 18 on Tuesday (March 15-16). Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.Â
FIELD — In addition to Pepperdine, the 11-team field is scheduled to include Arizona State, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Houston, Marquette, Ohio State, SMU, USF and Wake Forest.
According to the latest Golfstat rankings, the field includes six top-10 teams and nine top-40 schools.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup consists of sophomore Dylan Menante (Carlsbad, Calif./Sage Creek HS), sophomore William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS), junior Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Preparatory School), senior Clay Feagler (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) and senior RJ Manke (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Preparatory School).
TOURNAMENT HISTORY — The Waves have played in this tournament once, finishing 14th in 2018.
RANKINGS — The Waves are ranked #4 by Golfstat and #6 in both the most recent Bushnell Golfweek coaches poll (March 5) and by Golfweek/Sagarin.
Five Waves are in the top 100 as individuals: Dylan Menante (#6 Golfweek/Sagarin and #11 Golfstat), Joey Vrzich (#15 Golfweek/Sagarin and #19 Golfstat), RJ Manke (#24 Golfweek/Sagarin and #50 Golfstat), Joshua McCarthy (#42 Golfweek/Sagarin) and Derek Hitchner (#83 Golfweek/Sagarin).
The Waves ended spring 2020 ranked #1 in the Bushnell Golfweek coaches poll and in the Golfstat computer rankings, and #2 by Golfweek/Sagarin. The Waves had nine players in the Golfweek/Sagarin top 200, eight of whom are returners.
AWARDS — William Mouw was on the first Haskins Award watch list of the season, and Dylan Menante made the updated list in November and March ... Mouw has been named to the team that will represent the U.S. in the Walker Cup in May.
EAST LAKE — The exclusive East Lake Cup, held in Atlanta, Ga. (Oct. 26-28) brought together the four highest-ranked teams in the nation from when the season ended in mid-March. After a round of stroke play, the Waves brought home the trophy by beating Texas Tech 3-2 in the semfinals and Oklahoma 4-1 in the championship. Joe Highsmith, Derek Hitchner and Dylan Menante each went 2-0 in match play.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS — Joshua McCarthy won two WCC-only fall events, the Pasadera Collegiate Invitational and the Rustic Collegiate Classic. It's the eighth time in program history (and the fourth year in a row) that a Wave has won twice in one season ... Dylan Menante has a pair of second-place finishes and went 2-0 in match play at the East Lake Cup ... Pepperdine has won three tournaments for the third straight season and the fifth time in program history. The Waves have never won more than three ... Pepperdine's own Southwestern Invitational was televised by the Golf Channel for the first time.
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 #49 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
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EVENT INFO — The Valspar will be held at the par-71, 7,114-yard Floridian National Golf Club in Palm City, Florida. There will be 36 holes on Monday and the final 18 on Tuesday (March 15-16). Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.Â
FIELD — In addition to Pepperdine, the 11-team field is scheduled to include Arizona State, Clemson, Duke, Florida State, Houston, Marquette, Ohio State, SMU, USF and Wake Forest.
According to the latest Golfstat rankings, the field includes six top-10 teams and nine top-40 schools.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup consists of sophomore Dylan Menante (Carlsbad, Calif./Sage Creek HS), sophomore William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS), junior Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Preparatory School), senior Clay Feagler (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Dana Hills HS) and senior RJ Manke (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Preparatory School).
TOURNAMENT HISTORY — The Waves have played in this tournament once, finishing 14th in 2018.
RANKINGS — The Waves are ranked #4 by Golfstat and #6 in both the most recent Bushnell Golfweek coaches poll (March 5) and by Golfweek/Sagarin.
Five Waves are in the top 100 as individuals: Dylan Menante (#6 Golfweek/Sagarin and #11 Golfstat), Joey Vrzich (#15 Golfweek/Sagarin and #19 Golfstat), RJ Manke (#24 Golfweek/Sagarin and #50 Golfstat), Joshua McCarthy (#42 Golfweek/Sagarin) and Derek Hitchner (#83 Golfweek/Sagarin).
The Waves ended spring 2020 ranked #1 in the Bushnell Golfweek coaches poll and in the Golfstat computer rankings, and #2 by Golfweek/Sagarin. The Waves had nine players in the Golfweek/Sagarin top 200, eight of whom are returners.
AWARDS — William Mouw was on the first Haskins Award watch list of the season, and Dylan Menante made the updated list in November and March ... Mouw has been named to the team that will represent the U.S. in the Walker Cup in May.
EAST LAKE — The exclusive East Lake Cup, held in Atlanta, Ga. (Oct. 26-28) brought together the four highest-ranked teams in the nation from when the season ended in mid-March. After a round of stroke play, the Waves brought home the trophy by beating Texas Tech 3-2 in the semfinals and Oklahoma 4-1 in the championship. Joe Highsmith, Derek Hitchner and Dylan Menante each went 2-0 in match play.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS — Joshua McCarthy won two WCC-only fall events, the Pasadera Collegiate Invitational and the Rustic Collegiate Classic. It's the eighth time in program history (and the fourth year in a row) that a Wave has won twice in one season ... Dylan Menante has a pair of second-place finishes and went 2-0 in match play at the East Lake Cup ... Pepperdine has won three tournaments for the third straight season and the fifth time in program history. The Waves have never won more than three ... Pepperdine's own Southwestern Invitational was televised by the Golf Channel for the first time.
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 #49 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
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