BREMERTON, Wash. – The Pepperdine women's golf team came out strong for the opening round of the West Coast Conference Championships at the par-72, 6,112-yard Gold Mountain Olympic Course on Friday, finishing up with a 14-stroke lead and three in the top-three after 18 holes.
 
The Waves shot for a 2-over 290 collectively in the tournament the program has won 20 of the 26 ever contested previously.  Four of Pepperdine's five competitors finished in the top-seven, while all five were in the top-20 at the end of the round. 
 
Pepperdine was led by junior Lauren Gomez, who previously won the tournament in her freshman campaign in 2022, as she finished with a 2-under 70.  Senior Lion Higo is in second-place with a 1-under 71 as well.  Gomez and Higo were the only two competitors to finish under par in round one.  Sophomore Jeneath Wong is tied for third.
 
San Francisco is in second-place (304), while Santa Clara (306) and Gonzaga (308) round out the top four.
 
PLAYER SCORES

• Junior Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.) finished in first-place with a score of 70.  She started the day with a pair of birdies in her first four holes to kick things off strong.  Though she bogeyed to finish 1-over at the turn, she went 3-under on a bogeyless back nine to finish in the lead.  She leads all competitors with five birdies.
• Senior Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) is in second-place after shooting a 71.  She had one birdie on the front to finish out even at the turn and though she went over one with a bogey on hole 12, she rallied with a pair of birdies on 15 and 17 to finish under on the day.  She finished with three birdies.
• Sophomore Jeneath Wong (Melbourne, Australia) picked up a 73, which puts her tied for third currently.  She had back-to-back birdies on holes six and seven to even things up, though she went over on hole eight.  She finished up even on the back nine after a birdie, bogey combo on hole 15 and 16.  She tabbed three birdies on the day.
• Sophomore Yingzhi Zhu (Nanjing, China) shot a 76 to tie for seventh.  She led the tournament, making par on 15 of her 18 holes.
• Junior KaYee Kwok (Tianjin, China) is tied for 18^th with an 81.  She had one birdie.

 
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: 1. Pepperdine 290; 2. San Francisco 304; 3. Santa Clara 306; 4. Gonzaga 308.
 
Individual Scores: 1. Lauren Gomez (Pepperdine) 70; 2. Lion Higo (Pepperdine) 71; T3. Jeneath Wong (Pepperdine) 73; T3. Grace Lee (Gonzaga) 73; T3. Yu Shang (USF) 73; 6. Eva Pett (USF) 75; T7. Yingzhi Zhu (Pepperdine) 76; T7. Meva Schmit (Santa Clara) 76; T7. Sudrey Brust (Santa Clara) 76.
 
NEXT UP
Tomorrow, the Waves will be paired with San Francisco for the second-consecutive round, teeing off beginning at 8:20 a.m.