The Prestige Up Next for Men's Golf

MALIBU, Calif. — After traveling to Hawai'i last week and not seeing much action due to the high winds, the Pepperdine men's golf team will be back on the links on Monday, set for The Prestige.

EVENT INFO — The Prestige will be held at the par-71, 7,100-yard Greg Norman Course at PGA WEST in La Quinta, Calif. There will be 18 holes of golf each day between Monday and Wednesday (February 20-22). Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.

FIELD — In addition to #15 Pepperdine, the 24-team field includes co-hosts #6 Stanford and UC Davis, as well as #3 Texas Tech, #21 Baylor, #22 Colorado State, #28 LSU, #35 Northwestern, #33 Liberty, #42 TCU, #44 Louisville, #47 Kansas, Cal Poly, Charlotte, Creighton, Iowa State, Loyola Marymount, Nebraska, North Texas, Oregon State, Princeton, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington State.

EVENT HISTORY — The Waves have been close to winning The Prestige, with five-consecutive second or third-place finishes prior to the 2022 season. Pepperdine has four second-place results in 21 trips to the event. Head coach Michael Beard was a co-medalist at the inaugural event in 2000, and Clay Feagler won it in 2018. Last season, Ian Maspat captured the Individual tournament title with a 6-under 210, good for a five-shot victory.

PEPPERDINE LINEUP — Pepperdine's lineup for The Prestige consists of senior William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS), graduates Luke Gifford (Boca Raton, Fla./South Florida), Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School), Sam Choi (Anaheim, Calif./New Mexico) and Roberto Nieves (Miami, Fla./Delaware).

RANKINGS — The Waves are currently #15 by Golfstat, #16 by Golfweek/Sagarin and the Bushnell/Golfweek coaches poll.

Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings: Hitchner #9, Mouw #43.

Golfstat individual rankings: Hitchner #24, Mouw #40, Choi #80, Gifford #224.

PGA Tour University rankings: Mouw #7, Choi #18, Hitchner #23, Gifford #88, Nieves #106.

World Amateur Golf Rankings: Mouw #14, Hitchner #35, Choi #40.

SPRING HIGHLIGHTS — Pepperdine began slowly at its own Southwestern Invitational to open the Spring campaign, finishing the first round tied-sixth. The Waves had better second and third rounds than any other team, moving up four spots to finish second overall with a 1-under, but it would not be enough to overcome a 14-under display from Texas for the win.

FALL HIGHLIGHTS — The Waves finished tied-second at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate tied-third at the Ben Hogan Collegiate Invitational in October. William Mouw finished third and second respectively as an individual in the two tournaments. Pepperdine competed at the prestigious East Lake Cup as well, finishing fourth in stroke play. The Waves defeated Texas 4-1 before falling to 2022 NCAA Champions Arizona State by a narrow 3-2 margin.

HONORS — William Mouw and Derek Hitchner were recently named to the Ben Hogan Award watch list ... Mouw was named to Golfweek's preseason All-American first team and the Golf Channel's second team ... Hitchner was named to the preseason All-American third team by both the Golf Channel and Golfweek ... Hitchner was one of three nominees for the Ben Hogan Award's Player of the Month for August ... Hitchner is one of four college golfers who had been selected to play at the East West Matches at Maridoe Golf Club in November ... Hitchner, Mouw, Sam Choi and Ian Maspat were named preseason All-WCC.

RECORDS WATCH — William Mouw ranks #4 all-time in scoring average (71.09) and #7 in below-par rounds (54) ... Derek Hitchner is #7 all-time in scoring average (71.65) and #9 below-par round (49).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Sam Choi

Luke Gifford

Derek Hitchner

Ian Maspat

William Mouw

Roberto Nieves

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