Pepperdine Men's Golf Heads to WCC Championships this Week

MALIBU, Calif. — The #6 Pepperdine men's golf team heads to the West Coast Conference Championships this week, with the Waves looking to win the fifth-straight title and their league-best 23rd overall.

EVENT INFO — The WCC Championships will be held at the par-72, 7,109-yard Gold Mountain Golf Club - Olympic Course in Bremerton, Washington. There will be 18-holes of golf played each day Thursday through Saturday (April 27-29). Live scoring will be available on Golfstat.

FIELD — In addition to #6 Pepperdine, eight other schools sponsor men's golf: BYU, Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Pacific, San Diego, San Francisco, Saint Mary's and Santa Clara. USF is second with 11 WCC titles. After Pepperdine, the next-highest ranked teams by Golfstat in the field are #44 BYU, #45 San Diego and #46 San Francisco.

PEPPERDINE LINEUP — Pepperdine's lineup for the WCC Championships consists of senior William Mouw (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS), graduate students Derek Hitchner (Minneapolis, Minn./The Blake School), Sam Choi (Anaheim, Calif./New Mexico), Luke Gifford (Boca Raton, Fla./South Florida) and freshman Brady Siravo (Sacramento, Calif./Jesuit HS).

EVENT HISTORY — Pepperdine's 22 WCC titles have all come since 1987. The Waves have finished either first or second at six-consecutive championships and 27 of the last 33 overall. Pepperdine has also produced the medalist in three of the last four tournaments, and 14 in all.

RANKINGS — The Waves are currently #6 by Golfstat, #7 by Golfweek/Sagarin and #9 in the Bushnell/Golfweek coaches poll.

Golfweek/Sagarin individual rankings: Hitchner #15, Mouw #23, Choi #39.

Golfstat individual rankings: Mouw #20, Hitchner #24, Choi #25, Gifford #134.

PGA Tour University rankings: Mouw #6, Choi #18, Hitchner #19, Gifford #69, Nieves #101.

World Amateur Golf Rankings: Mouw #7, Hitchner #32 and Choi #39.

SPRING HIGHLIGHTS — Pepperdine has won two tournaments this spring - The Prestige (Feb. 20-22) and Western Intercollegiate (April 10-12). The Waves have finished in the top-five in six of the seven tournaments this spring, including second-place finishes at the Southwestern Invitational (Jan. 30-Feb. 1), NIT (March 17-18) and third-place at Southern Highlands Collegiate (Feb. 26-28) in addition to the first-place results.

Derek Hitchner won his first collegiate tournament at the Western Intercollegiate, and it was the first Waves individual win of the season as well. In five of the six tournaments, a Pepperdine golfer has finished in the top-five. Along with Hitchner's top finish, he's led the Waves in two other tournaments, tying for ninth at the Southwestern and 14th at the Valspar. William Mouw has finished in the top-five to lead the Waves in three tournaments as well with a second-place finish at The Prestige, third at the NIT and he tied for fifth at Southern Highlands. Mouw leads the Waves with a 70.50 scoring average, which ranks fourth in the Pepperdine golf record books, while Hitchner has a 70.64 scoring average which ranks sixth. Mouw and Sam Choi, who has a 70.89 scoring average to rank 10th, have each finished in the top-20 in eight tournaments this season. Mouw and Hitchner have finished in the top-10 five times, while Choi has achieved the feat in three tournaments.

RECORDS WATCH — William Mouw ranks #2 all-time in scoring average (70.97), #5 in below-par rounds (63) and 9th in career top-10 finishes (18) and top-20 finishes (27) ... Derek Hitchner is #6 all-time in scoring average (71.53) and #7 below-par round (56).

ARNOLD PALMER CUP — Derek Hitchner was named to Team U.S.A. Arnold Palmer Cup team this week. As announced in December, head coach Michael Beard will also lead the Americans as well in the tournament that takes place June 8-10 at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

WCC MONTHLY ACCLAIM — William Mouw earned his first-ever West Coast Conference Golfer of the Month accolade for his performances in February. He averaged 70.33 strokes per round and tabbed four below par rounds out of his nine rounds played through three tournaments. He finished int he top-10 twice and top-20 in all three tournaments, including a second-place finish at The Prestige, helping the Waves to the tournament title for the first time in program history.

In the following month of March, graduate Sam Choi tabbed WCC Golfer of the Month honors for the first time in his career as well. In the team's two tournaments in the month, he averaged 70.33 strokes per round and tabbed two below par rounds of his six played, while hitting even par without going over in the other four rounds. He finished in the top-20 in both tournaments, tying for 13th at the NIT as the Waves finished second and tying for 20th at the Valspar Collegiate Invitational.

Pepperdine Men's Golf Heads to WCC Championships this Week

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Players Mentioned

Sam Choi

Luke Gifford

Derek Hitchner

William Mouw

Brady Siravo

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