Monday, March 25
Fresno, Calif.
Pepperdine University
at
Fresno State Classic
Photo by: Lucas Peltier
Waves Set for Fresno State Classic
3/24/2024 4:03:00 PM | Women's Golf
MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's golf team will be back on the links tomorrow, competing at the Fresno State Classic up north.
EVENT HISTORY — The tournament will be held at the par-72, 6,266-yard Copper River Country Club. It's a two-day event (March 25-26) with 36 holes of golf on Monday and the final round of 18 on Tuesday. Fresno State is the tournament host and tee times are slated for a shotgun start at 8 a.m. each morning.
Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.
FIELD — In addition to #12 Pepperdine and host Fresno State, #51 Colorado State, #79 Grand Canyon, #82 UC Davis, #84 Cal Poly, #85 Sacramento State, #87 Rutgers, #95 Nevada, #99 Washington State, Arkansas State, Fresno State, BYU, Northern Arizona, California Baptist, Utah Valley, Hawai'i, Santa Clara, UC Riverside, UAB, UC Irvine and CSU Fullerton
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup consists of sophomore Jeneath Wong (Melbourne, Australia), junior Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.), seniors Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) and Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.) and sophomore Yingzhi Zhu (Nanjing, China).
RANKINGS — Pepperdine is ranked #12 in the Clipp'd national rankings this week. In the Clipp'd national individual rankings, Wong is #14, having moved up 89-spots two weeks ago and another 68-spots after last week's individual tournament win. Lauren Gomez is #59, Lion Higo ranks #84 and Kaleiya Romero is #131. In the WAGR, Jeneath Wong is ranked #54 and Lion Higo ranks #82.
PEPPERDINE AT THE CLASSIC — This will be the first time the Waves have played in the Fresno State Classic.
LAST TIME OUT — Earlier this month, Pepperdine battled through unsavory weather conditions with heavy winds and rain delays to take home the hardware for the second-consecutive year at the Silicon Valley Showcase. The Waves won by a staggering 35-stroke margin with a three-round total of 857 (287-283-287) and sophomore Jeneath Wong marked her first collegiate victory with a 7-under 206 (68-68-70). Along with her in the top-10 were Lion Higo and Lauren Gomez who tied for third and Kaleiya Romero who tied for 10th.
The previous year in the Silicon Valley Showcase, the Waves finished with an 869 to tie for first out of nine teams. The other team to finish first was top-ranked Stanford. Lion Higo had won her second tournament of the season with a solid 1-over 214 in unsavory weather conditions to own the individual title outright with a 1-stroke margin.
SPRING SO FAR — The Waves have played in three tournaments, one - the Therese Hession Regional Challenge - that turned into a match play format and stroke-play formatted The Show at Spanish Trail and Silicon Valley Showcase. Kaleiya Romero highlighted the former by going undefeated at 2-0-1, besting opponents from #10 Florida and Baylor.
At The Show at Spanish Trail in Las Vegas, Pepperdine finished tied for fourth with a 12-over 876. Jeneath Wong led the squad with the best finish of her career after tying for second with a 4-under 212, only three shots behind first-place. Lauren Gomez, Kaleiya Romero and Lion Higo also finished in the top-27 as well.
The Waves went on to win the Silicon Valley Showcase the following week and Wong earned her first collegiate victory.
WCC MONTHLY HONORS — Kaleiya Romero tabbed the season's first golfer of the month accolade, having put in a strong performance at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge for the month of February.
LAST 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 third and seventh respectively in the program's career scoring average lists with a 73.37 and 73.60 scoring average respectively.
EVENT HISTORY — The tournament will be held at the par-72, 6,266-yard Copper River Country Club. It's a two-day event (March 25-26) with 36 holes of golf on Monday and the final round of 18 on Tuesday. Fresno State is the tournament host and tee times are slated for a shotgun start at 8 a.m. each morning.
Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.
FIELD — In addition to #12 Pepperdine and host Fresno State, #51 Colorado State, #79 Grand Canyon, #82 UC Davis, #84 Cal Poly, #85 Sacramento State, #87 Rutgers, #95 Nevada, #99 Washington State, Arkansas State, Fresno State, BYU, Northern Arizona, California Baptist, Utah Valley, Hawai'i, Santa Clara, UC Riverside, UAB, UC Irvine and CSU Fullerton
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup consists of sophomore Jeneath Wong (Melbourne, Australia), junior Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.), seniors Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) and Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.) and sophomore Yingzhi Zhu (Nanjing, China).
RANKINGS — Pepperdine is ranked #12 in the Clipp'd national rankings this week. In the Clipp'd national individual rankings, Wong is #14, having moved up 89-spots two weeks ago and another 68-spots after last week's individual tournament win. Lauren Gomez is #59, Lion Higo ranks #84 and Kaleiya Romero is #131. In the WAGR, Jeneath Wong is ranked #54 and Lion Higo ranks #82.
PEPPERDINE AT THE CLASSIC — This will be the first time the Waves have played in the Fresno State Classic.
LAST TIME OUT — Earlier this month, Pepperdine battled through unsavory weather conditions with heavy winds and rain delays to take home the hardware for the second-consecutive year at the Silicon Valley Showcase. The Waves won by a staggering 35-stroke margin with a three-round total of 857 (287-283-287) and sophomore Jeneath Wong marked her first collegiate victory with a 7-under 206 (68-68-70). Along with her in the top-10 were Lion Higo and Lauren Gomez who tied for third and Kaleiya Romero who tied for 10th.
The previous year in the Silicon Valley Showcase, the Waves finished with an 869 to tie for first out of nine teams. The other team to finish first was top-ranked Stanford. Lion Higo had won her second tournament of the season with a solid 1-over 214 in unsavory weather conditions to own the individual title outright with a 1-stroke margin.
SPRING SO FAR — The Waves have played in three tournaments, one - the Therese Hession Regional Challenge - that turned into a match play format and stroke-play formatted The Show at Spanish Trail and Silicon Valley Showcase. Kaleiya Romero highlighted the former by going undefeated at 2-0-1, besting opponents from #10 Florida and Baylor.
At The Show at Spanish Trail in Las Vegas, Pepperdine finished tied for fourth with a 12-over 876. Jeneath Wong led the squad with the best finish of her career after tying for second with a 4-under 212, only three shots behind first-place. Lauren Gomez, Kaleiya Romero and Lion Higo also finished in the top-27 as well.
The Waves went on to win the Silicon Valley Showcase the following week and Wong earned her first collegiate victory.
WCC MONTHLY HONORS — Kaleiya Romero tabbed the season's first golfer of the month accolade, having put in a strong performance at the Therese Hession Regional Challenge for the month of February.
LAST 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 third and seventh respectively in the program's career scoring average lists with a 73.37 and 73.60 scoring average respectively.
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