PALM CITY, Florida – Dylan Menante and the Pepperdine men's golf team turned in near-record performances to take the lead after 36 holes of play on Monday at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational.
The Waves shot a 28-under 540 (274-266) at the par-71 Floridian National Golf Club and lead Arizona State by 14 and North Carolina by 16.
Pepperdine shot 18-under in the afternoon's second round, tied for the third-best round in program history. The 28-under is tied for the fifth-best score after 36 holes in school history. For a while, it looked like the Waves had a shot to break the school records of 22-under and 35-under, respectively.
After a 13-under 129, Menante will head into Tuesday's final round with a one-shot lead over Clemson's Jacob Bridgeman. It's his second 13-under after 36 holes in his college career, a mark that is tied for third in Pepperdine history.
PLAYER SCORES
- Junior Dylan Menante (Carlsbad, Calif./Sage Creek HS) was in second place after an opening 7-under 64, and followed it up with a 6-under 65 to take the lead. His morning round featured eight birdies and just one bogey. He had eight more birdies in the afternoon, including two runs of three straight, and his only mishit was a late double-bogey. Menante is attempting to win his first college title.
- Senior Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) is tied for third place with an 8-under 134 (68-66). He had four birdies during his 3-under first round. He had six birdies during his 5-under second round, including a run of three straight to close out the day.
- Senior Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) is tied for 11th with a 5-under 137 (71-66). After an even-par first round with three birdies, he posted a 5-under 66 in the second round. He began the round with three straight birdies and had four in his first five holes and seven overall.
- Junior William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS) is tied for 25th with a 2-under 140 (71-69). He had four birdies during an even-par morning round, then five birdies in the afternoon en route to a 2-under.
- Freshman Ian Maspat (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch HS) is tied for 38th at 143 (72-71). He had seven birdies during an eventful first round, then posted four more in the afternoon as he shot even-par.
UP NEXT
The third and final round is a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday. The Waves will be paired with Arizona State and North Carolina and they'll begin on holes 1-3.
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: 1. Pepperdine 540; 2. Arizona State 554; 3. North Carolina 556; 4. Florida State 559; T5. Wake Forest 561; T5. Duke 561; T5. Ohio State 561; 8. Texas Tech 564; T9. Houston 565; T9. Clemson 565; 11. South Florida 566; 12. Texas A&M 573; 13. USC 576; 14. Marquette 577; 15. Minnesota 581.
Top Individuals: 1. Dylan Menante (Pepperdine) 129; 2. Jacob Bridgeman (Clemson) 130;
T3. Joe Highsmith (Pepperdine) 134; T3. Ian Siebers (Duke) 134; T3. Ryan Burnett (North Carolina) 134; T3. Jackson Rivera (USC) 134.
