Men's Golf Keeps Hold of Fifth Place at NCAA Championships

Sunday, May 29

Scottsdale, Ariz.

Pepperdine University

NCAA Championships

Dylan Menante

Photo by: Roger Horne

Men's Golf Keeps Hold of Fifth Place at NCAA Championships

5/29/2022 7:00:00 PM | Men's Golf

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By: by Athletic Communications

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona – After another excellent showing, the Pepperdine men's golf team maintained its fifth-place position following Sunday's third round at the NCAA Championships. Dylan Menante shot a 4-under 66 to lead the way.

The defending national champions easily made the 15-team cut by a 26-stroke margin. On Monday, the Waves will need to keep a top-eight standing to advance to match play. Pepperdine will start the final round of stroke play 16 shots ahead of ninth place.

On Sunday, the Waves tied for the best round of the day with a 3-under 277, and now have a three-day total of 853 (294-282-277) at the par-70 Raptor Course at Grayhawk Golf Club.

Pepperdine closed the gap between fourth and fifth place a little bit and now trails North Carolina by just four shots. Arizona State and Texas challenged the Waves for a top-five slot before dropping back late and moving into sixth and seventh, respectively. Arkansas is eighth, 13 shots behind Pepperdine, while Auburn and Texas Tech are tied for ninth at 869.

The two-time national champions have advanced to the NCAA finals for the third consecutive time – a first in program history – and for the 12th time overall.

PLAYER SCORES

Junior William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS) is tied for ninth place with a 1-over 211 (71-70-70). He posted his second straight even-par round. He was 2-over after 11 holes but came in with birdies on 3 and 6 and then closed out the day with three straight pars.
Senior Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) is tied for 17th at 214 (76-67-71). He had two birdies on Sunday, one early on 11 and one late on 7.
Junior Dylan Menante (Carlsbad, Calif./Sage Creek HS) moved up 50 spots on the leaderboard and he's now tied for 25th at 215 (76-73-66). The 4-under was the Waves' best of the tournament so far. Over his first nine holes he had birdies on 13, 14 and 17. He had his only miscue with a bogey on 1, but came back with a birdie on 4, and then birdied 9 on his final hole to get to 4-under.
Senior Joe Highsmith (Lakewood, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) is tied for 34th at 217 (71-76-70). His even-par round included two birdies, one on 14 and one on his final hole, 9.
Senior Joey Vrzich (El Cajon, Calif./Christian HS/Nevada) is tied for 55th at 220 (76-72-72). He had three birdies on the day, which came on 11, 15 and 4.

QUOTABLE

Pepperdine Coach Michael Beard said: "I think we're starting to really get a feel for how the course is playing. It was great to have all five guys in it today, and Dylan's low round of 4-under was huge for us. He got out early and never let off the gas. But everyone played well. It was a great team effort today and I like where all five of their games are going into tomorrow. The guys are prepared and know what's coming."

UP NEXT

Pepperdine will be paired with North Carolina for the fourth straight round, and with Arizona State for the third time in four days. They'll begin on the first tee starting at 10:55 a.m. on Monday. Golf Channel will have live coverage from 2-6 p.m.

THE NUMBERS

Team Scores (15 advancing teams): 1. Oklahoma 839; 2. Oklahoma State 843; 3. Vanderbilt 845; 4. North Carolina 849; 5. Pepperdine 853; 6. Arizona State 859; 7. Texas 860; 8. Arkansas 866; T9. Auburn 869; T9. Texas Tech 869; 11. Florida 871; 12. Georgia 872; 13. Oregon 876; T14. Georgia Tech 877; T14. Ole Miss 877.

Team Scores (15 non-advancing teams): 16. Texas A&M 879; 17. Kansas 880; 18. Stanford 882; T19. Arizona 883; T19. Wake Forest 883; T21. Florida State 887; T21. BYU 887; 23. Ohio State 893; 24. North Florida 895; 25. Georgia Southern 897; 26. Liberty 898; 27. Utah 904; 28. South Florida 907; 29. East Tennessee State 911; 30. College of Charleston 913.

Top Individuals: 1. Gordon Sargent (Vanderbilt) 206; 2. Chris Gotterup (Oklahoma) 207; 3. Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra (Oklahoma State) 208; 4. Patrick Welch (Oklahoma) 209; 5. four players tied at 210.