Pepperdine University
The Show at Spanish Trail
Waves Ready for the Show
3/1/2024 3:01:00 PM | Women's Golf
MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's golf team will continue with the spring slate with The Show at Spanish Trail.
EVENT HISTORY — The tournament, in its third year of existence, will be held at the par-72, 6,537-yard Spanish Trail Country Club, located in Las Vegas, Nev. There will be 36 holes on Monday (March 4) and a final round of 18 on Tuesday (March 5). Each round will be a shotgun start and play will begin at 8 a.m. each day.
FIELD — In addition to #23 Pepperdine, the 13-team field includes #3 UCLA, #24 Virginia, #27 Purdue, #29 SMU, #31 Houston, #39 Tulsa, #56 Minnesota, #59 Furman, #60 UNLV, #73 New Mexico, #74 TCU and #93 Nevada.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup consists of seniors Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) and Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.), junior Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.) and sophomores Jeneath Wong (Melbourne, Australia) and Yingzhi Zhu (Nanjing, China).
RANKINGS — Pepperdine is ranked #23 in the Clipp'd national rankings this week. In the WAGR, Lion Higo ranks #80 and Jeneath Wong is #68. In the Clipp'd national individual rankings, Lauren Gomez is #75, Kaleiya Romero is #101, Lion Higo ranks #113 and Jeneath Wong ranks #171.
PEPPERDINE AT THE SHOW — This will mark the second time Pepperdine has competed in this tournament all-time. Last season, the Waves put in an impressive performance at The Show, having finished second after posting better second and third rounds than any other teams. Jeneath Wong finished 5-under for fourth, while Lion Higo finished tied for fifth after shooting a 3-under. Yingzhi Zhu also tied for 10th.
LAST TIME OUT — The Waves competed at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge at the beginning of February. Though usually a stroke play tournament, inclement weather forced a change and the Waves faced off with #10 Florida, #24 Arizona State and #61 Baylor in a series of match play events. Pepperdine fell 4-1 to the Gators, 4-0-1 to the Sundevils and tied with the Bears. Kaleiya Romero highlighted by going an undefeated 2-0-1, beating her opponents from Florida and Baylor and tying with the ASU competitor.
THIS FALL — Pepperdine won two of the three tournaments the team played in, first taking home the hardware at the Branch Law Firm Dick McGuire Invitational before winning the Golfweek Red Sky Classic. The Waves had a solid performance in the opening tournament, shooting a 14-under 850, which currently ranks seventh in the Pepperdine women's golf record books for lowest 54-hole score. The Waves shot an 18-under 270 in the second round to tie the program record for lowest 18-hole score as well. Lauren Gomez got off to a good start, tying for third with a score of 208. Her 6-under 66 in the second round was a career-high and it was the third time in her career that she shot for par in all three rounds of a single tournament. Kaleiya Romero and Lion Higo also finished in the top-10, with Romero finishing tied for eighth with a 213 and Higo finishing tied for 10th with a 214.
The Waves continued the fall success with the Golfweek Red Sky Classic victory after four Waves finished in the top-20 and three finished in the top-10. Romero led the squad, tying for third. Pepperdine ended the fall season with a third-place finish at the Mercedez-Benz Intercollegiate.
RECORD BOOK WATCH — Pepperdine has already made an impact on the program's records during the fall season, as the Waves tied the 18-hole program record in the first tournament of the season after shooting an 18-under in the second round of the Dick McGuire Invitational. The squad's 14-under through 36 holes also ranks third in the all-time lists.
Lion Higo sits atop the single-season records having amassed an impressive 71.35 scoring average last season, topping Grace Na who had tabbed a 71.73 during the 2013-14 season. She also ranked first outright after having amassed 18 below-par rounds and is tied for the top spot with 11 top-20 finishes in a single season. Higo and Lauren Gomez currently rank fourth and seventh respectively in the program's career scoring average lists with a 73.50 and 73.68 scoring average respectively.
Players Mentioned
