HENDERSON, Nevada – Caroline Hwang rallied to earn medalist honors at the West Coast Conference Championships on Saturday, and though the Pepperdine women's golf team nearly pulled off a massive comeback, the Waves finished second after a playoff.
The Waves posted a three-day total of 897 (299-295-303) at the par-72 Reflection Bay Golf Club. They began the day in third, 10 shots behind BYU and five back of Gonzaga. The deficit was still sizeable with just a few holes remaining. But with teams batting brutal winds and high heat, the Waves played the final four holes five shots better than Gonzaga and 11 better than BYU.
The result was a tie between the Waves and Gonzaga at 897, and the second playoff in the last three WCC Championships. The teams tied on the first playoff hole on 17, and the Bulldogs finally broke through to win their first-ever women's golf title on the 18th.
Pepperdine, the defending champions from 2019, was attempting to win its 19th title.
PLAYER SCORES
- Freshman Caroline Hwang (Orlando, Fla.) began the final round four shots behind. But her final-round 76 was enough to vault her into first place and a one-shot victory with a total of 221 (71-74-76). She posted one birdie today. This is the 17th time that Pepperdine has had the medalist at the WCC Championships.
- Freshman Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.) had the best round of the day by anyone, an even-par 72, which moved her up into a tie for second place at 222 (75-75-72). She had four birdies, all of which came on the front nine. She had a team-high nine birdies for the tournament.
- Sophomore Reese Guzman (Kahului, Hawai'i) tied for 12th at 229 (79-74-76). She had two birdies in the final round.
- Senior Megan Dennis (Bedfordshire, United Kingdom) tied for 16th at 231 (76-72-83).
- Freshman Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) tied for 20th at 236 (77-80-79). She had two birdies today.
QUOTABLE
Pepperdine Coach
Laurie Gibbs said: "Congratulations to Gonzaga on the championship. It was a great finish. I don't normally check scores in the middle of the round because I focus on the players in front of me, but I did today, and we were quite a bit back and even fighting to stay in third. But I know what we've gone through this semester with tough conditions and tough courses and I thought the tougher it gets out here, the more that's going to be to our advantage, and that's exactly what happened. We talked about it repeatedly this week, it's going to be really tough in the final round, and you just need to play golf in a different way than you ever have before. You have to accept it, and that's what they did, and I'm so proud of them. We've got such a young team and this was a great experience for them to fight all the way to the end. We took a mindset that no matter what, we're just going to grind."
Caroline Hwang said: "I just stayed really patient through the three days. The first round, I had one birdie and no bogeys, which was really nice, but the conditions got tougher, especially today. Our whole team fought hard to be able to get into the playoff."
UP NEXT
NCAA Regional bids will be announced on Wednesday (April 28) at 11 a.m. PT on the Golf Channel. Regional dates are May 10-12.
THE NUMBERS
Team Standings: 1. Gonzaga 897;
2. Pepperdine 897; 3. BYU 904; 4. San Francisco 905; 5. Santa Clara 938.
Individual Leaders: 1. Caroline Hwang (Pepperdine) 221; T2.
Kaleiya Romero (Pepperdine) 222; T2. Cassie Kim (Gonzaga) 222; T4. four players tied at 224.
