MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's golf team begins the spring season on Sunday against an impressive field at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge. It's the first of six tournaments before the West Coast Conference Championships.
EVENT INFO — The tournament will be held at the par-71, 6,017-yard Palos Verdes Golf Club, located in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif. There will be 18 holes each day between Sunday and Tuesday (February 12-14).
SCORING & TEE TIMES — Live scoring will be available on Golfstat with links found on www.PepperdineWaves.com. Tee times are Sunday and Monday, February 12 and 13 starting at 9 a.m. and Tuesday, February 14, a shotgun start with all players at 8:30 a.m.
SPECTATORS — Spectators are welcome to come and watch the golfers compete and enjoy the beauty of the Palos Verdes Golf Club at no admission charge.
FIELD — In addition to Pepperdine, the 16-team field also includes host The Ohio State, Arizona, Baylor, Florida, Georgetown, Illinois, Kentucky, Oregon, San Jose State, SMU, Stanford, Texas, UCLA, USC and Washington.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup consists of junior
Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia), sophomore
Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.), freshman
Jeneath Wong (Melbourne, Australia), junior
Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.) and freshman
Jenny Zhu (Nanjing, China).
EVENT HISTORY — This is Pepperdine's seventh appearance at this tournament. The Waves finished third in both 2013 and 2017, fifth in 2019 and 15th in 2022. The previous four times the Waves went, it was a match-play event.
TOURNAMENT FACTS — In January 2022, Therese Hession retired after nearly 30 years as head coach and Director of Golf at The Ohio State University. To honor her for her many accomplishments, the sponsor - the Northrop Grumman Corporation, has renamed the tournament The Therese Hession Regional Challenge presented by Northrop Grumman.
The tournament is in its 27th year of existence, meant to kick off the spring season for some of the best teams in women's golf. The individual winner will also receive an invitation to play in the LPGA DIO Implant Open to be held at Palos Verdes Golf Club March 27-April 2, 2023.
RANKINGS — Golfweek has the Waves at #35 on the publication's rankings list.
Jeneath Wong ranks #49 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking, while
Lion Higo, Lauren Gomez and
Kaleiya Romero currently rank #59, #93 and #170 respectively on the individual Golfstat rankings.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS — In the fall, the Waves won both the Golfweek Red Sky Classic and Golf Iconic Classic, shooting 18- and 5-under respectively.
Lion Higo won her first college title at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic title by a 15-stroke margin. Her score of 10-under tied the fourth-best score in Pepperdine history and Gomez came in second at 7-under. It was the program's fifth victory at the Golfweek event, though the first since 2014 and it was also the first time the Waves had won a tournament with double-digit teams in it since 2016.
At the Golf Iconic Classic, the squad had a three-day total of 5-under, starting a stroke behind New Mexico State in the final round before battling it to eventually beat the Aggies by four. Higo finished second, while
Kaleiya Romero finished tied-fourth. Pepperdine finished fourth at the season-opening USF Intercollegiate, beating all four other WCC schools, plus two Pac-12 programs.
Lauren Gomez tied for sixth and Romero tied for eighth.
FOLLOW — Follow the Waves all season on social media @WavesGolf on Facebook and Twitter and @pepperdinewomensgolf on Instagram. For updated scores, schedules and more, go to
www.pepperdinewaves.com.
