Monday, September 12
San Francisco, Calif.
Pepperdine University
at
USF Intercollegiate
Lauren Gomez
Photo by: Jeff Golden
Women's Golf Begins Season at USF Intercollegiate
9/10/2022 9:26:00 AM | Women's Golf
MALIBU, California — The #25 Pepperdine women's golf team gets the 2022-23 season underway at the USF Intercollegiate. All five West Coast Conference schools will be in attendance and make up half the field. This is the first of three fall tournaments for the Waves, who are coming off their 19th WCC title.
EVENT INFO — The tournament will be held at the par-71, 5,976-yard Ocean Course at the Olympic Club, located in San Francisco, California. There will be two rounds on Monday and the final 18 holes will be played on Tuesday (September 12-13). Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.
FIELD — In addition to Pepperdine, the 10-team field also includes host San Francisco, BYU, California, Colorado, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Jose State, Santa Clara and UCLA.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup consists of sophomore Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.), junior Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.), freshman Jenny Zhu (Nanjing, China), junior Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) and senior Reese Guzman (Kahului, Hawai'i).
EVENT HISTORY — This is the first time that the Waves will play in this particular event, but this is one of two USF-hosted tournaments that Pepperdine will play in this season. The Waves will also go to the Meadow Club for the Juli Inkster Invitational in the spring.
RANKINGS — Golfweek has the Waves at #25 on the publication's preseason rankings list.
ROSTER — The Waves return five of the six players that saw NCAA Regional action last season. This fall, Pepperdine has seven players (one senior, two juniors, three sophomores and one freshman). Two more freshmen will join the squad in January. One of the late enrollees, Jeneath Wong, is ranked #76 in the WAGR and was listed as one of the top 15 freshmen in the country by Golfweek.
2021-22 RECAP — Pepperdine won its league-best 19th WCC title and then advanced to its 23rd consecutive NCAA Regional last season. The Waves outplayed their seed in Ann Arbor, finishing sixth after coming in at #10. Lauren Gomez swept the WCC Player of the Year and WCC Freshman of the Year honors after winning the league title. She was joined on the All-WCC first team by Lion Higo and Kaleiya Romero. Laurie Gibbs was named the WCC co-Coach of the Year.
GIBBS — Under the direction of Laurie Gibbs, who is now in her 30th season as head coach, Pepperdine has earned a place as one of the nation's top golf programs. Gibbs has been honored 14 times as the WCC's Coach of the Year, was tabbed the West Region Coach of the Year on two occasions and was selected the 2004-05 National Coach of the Year by Golfweek magazine. Gibbs was inducted into the WGCA Coaches Hall of Fame in December 2015. The Waves have won 53 tournaments in her career.
GOLF HISTORY — The Waves have qualified for 12 NCAA Championships, and have recorded eight top-10 finishes and four top-five showings, including a program-best second-place result in 2003. The Waves have won West Coast Conference championships in 19 of the 25 tournaments ever held, including a streak of 14 titles that ran from 2002 to 2015. Fourteen different players have earned All-American honors a total of 30 times. LPGA Tour players have included Katherine (Hull) Kirk, Lindsey Wright, Tamie Durdin, Nadina (Taylor) Light, Misun Cho, Carolina Llano, Danielle Kang, Taylore Karle and Grace Na. Hull was the 2003 National Player of the Year and was inducted into the WGCA Hall of Fame in 2012. Kang won back-to-back U.S. Amateur Championships in 2010 and 2011 and was a U.S. Olympian in 2021.Â
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 20 schools to have accomplished this feat — and 10 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 26 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 2021-22). 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 tournament will be held at the par-71, 5,976-yard Ocean Course at the Olympic Club, located in San Francisco, California. There will be two rounds on Monday and the final 18 holes will be played on Tuesday (September 12-13). Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.
FIELD — In addition to Pepperdine, the 10-team field also includes host San Francisco, BYU, California, Colorado, Gonzaga, Oregon State, San Jose State, Santa Clara and UCLA.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup consists of sophomore Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.), junior Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.), freshman Jenny Zhu (Nanjing, China), junior Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) and senior Reese Guzman (Kahului, Hawai'i).
EVENT HISTORY — This is the first time that the Waves will play in this particular event, but this is one of two USF-hosted tournaments that Pepperdine will play in this season. The Waves will also go to the Meadow Club for the Juli Inkster Invitational in the spring.
RANKINGS — Golfweek has the Waves at #25 on the publication's preseason rankings list.
ROSTER — The Waves return five of the six players that saw NCAA Regional action last season. This fall, Pepperdine has seven players (one senior, two juniors, three sophomores and one freshman). Two more freshmen will join the squad in January. One of the late enrollees, Jeneath Wong, is ranked #76 in the WAGR and was listed as one of the top 15 freshmen in the country by Golfweek.
2021-22 RECAP — Pepperdine won its league-best 19th WCC title and then advanced to its 23rd consecutive NCAA Regional last season. The Waves outplayed their seed in Ann Arbor, finishing sixth after coming in at #10. Lauren Gomez swept the WCC Player of the Year and WCC Freshman of the Year honors after winning the league title. She was joined on the All-WCC first team by Lion Higo and Kaleiya Romero. Laurie Gibbs was named the WCC co-Coach of the Year.
GIBBS — Under the direction of Laurie Gibbs, who is now in her 30th season as head coach, Pepperdine has earned a place as one of the nation's top golf programs. Gibbs has been honored 14 times as the WCC's Coach of the Year, was tabbed the West Region Coach of the Year on two occasions and was selected the 2004-05 National Coach of the Year by Golfweek magazine. Gibbs was inducted into the WGCA Coaches Hall of Fame in December 2015. The Waves have won 53 tournaments in her career.
GOLF HISTORY — The Waves have qualified for 12 NCAA Championships, and have recorded eight top-10 finishes and four top-five showings, including a program-best second-place result in 2003. The Waves have won West Coast Conference championships in 19 of the 25 tournaments ever held, including a streak of 14 titles that ran from 2002 to 2015. Fourteen different players have earned All-American honors a total of 30 times. LPGA Tour players have included Katherine (Hull) Kirk, Lindsey Wright, Tamie Durdin, Nadina (Taylor) Light, Misun Cho, Carolina Llano, Danielle Kang, Taylore Karle and Grace Na. Hull was the 2003 National Player of the Year and was inducted into the WGCA Hall of Fame in 2012. Kang won back-to-back U.S. Amateur Championships in 2010 and 2011 and was a U.S. Olympian in 2021.Â
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 20 schools to have accomplished this feat — and 10 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 26 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 2021-22). 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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