PALM CITY, Fla. – The #9 Pepperdine men's golf team finished up at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational on Tuesday afternoon, ending with an eighth-place finish after shooting 6-under through three rounds.
The Waves had their best round in the third, shooting 10-under at the par-71, 6,943-yard Floridian Golf Club, while finishing with a three-round total of 846 (284-288-274). Graduate
Derek Hitchner led the Waves, having moved up 17 spots with a 66 in the final round to finish tied for 14
th. He had two eagles in today's round, one the sixth and 13
th holes. It's the first time the Waves have had an individual with two eagles in one round since a former player did it at the Amer Ari Invitational in February, 2020.
Pepperdine was up against some tough competition in the tournament, with six teams in the Golfstat national top-10 and nine in the top-30, and was only three strokes away from finishing tied for sixth alongside #2 Arizona State and #14 Texas A&M. #4 North Carolina finished 27-under to take home the hardware, while #3 Texas Tech and #10 Texas finished in second (-21) and third (-15) respectively.
PLAYER SCORES
- Graduate Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School) finished tied for 14th with a score of 209 (72-71-66). His 66 in the final round of a season-best.
- Graduate Sam Choi (Anaheim, Calif./New Mexico) finished tied for 20th after posting a three-round score of 210 (71-68-71). He posted 15 birdies throughout three rounds of action.
- Graduate Luke Gifford (Boca Raton, Fla./South Florida) moved up 10 spots after shooting 3-under, having amassed five birdies in the final round. He finished tied for 30th with a 212 (72-72-68).Â
- Senior William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS) ended the tournament tied for 66th with a three-round total of 220 (69-77-74).Â
- Graduate Roberto Nieves (Miami, Fla./Delaware) finished 83rd with a score of 228 (76-83-69). He had six birdies in the final round and tied his season-best performance in the final round with a 69.
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores:Â 1. North Carolina 825; 2. Texas Tech 831; 3. Texas 837; T4. Ohio State 839; T4. Florida State 839; T6. Arizona State 839; T6. Texas A&M 843; 8. Pepperdine 846; T9. Wake Forest 847; T9. Duke 847; 11. Georgia Southern 849; 12. Northwestern 853; 13. Houston 854; 14. Marquette 869; 15. Minnesota 870; 16. Lamar 890
Top Individuals:Â 1. Ludvig Aberg (Texas Tech) 202; T2. Ben Carr (Georgia Southern) 203; T2. David Ford (UNC) 203; T4. Brian Start (Texas) 204; T4. Preston Summerhays (Arizona State) 204; T4. Maxwell Moldovan (Ohio State) 204; 7. William Love (Duke) 205; 8. Austin Greaser (UNC) 206; T9. Christiaan Maas (Texas) 207; T9. Tyran Snyders (Texas Tech) 207
UP NEXT
On April 10-11, the Waves will compete in the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif. The tournament will air live on the Golf Channel.
