Pepperdine University
NCAA Championships
Women's Golf Set for NCAA Championships
5/15/2024 4:22:00 PM | Women's Golf
MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine women's golf team will continue NCAA tournament play by heading to Carlsbad, Calif. this week. A fifth-place finish at the NCAA East Lansing Regional earned the squad a spot in championship play for the 14th time in program history.
EVENT INFO — The NCAA Championships will be held at the par-72, 7,500-yard North Course at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad California, between May 17-22, hosted by the University of Texas at Austin.
All 30 teams will compete in the first three rounds (Friday through Sunday). The field will be cut to 15 teams for the fourth and final round of stroke play (Monday). The top eight teams will move on to match play, with the quarterfinals and semifinals on Tuesday and the national championship match on Wednesday.
Pepperdine, the #19 seed will be paired with Virginia and Mississippi State for the first two rounds. On Friday, they'll start on the first tee beginning at 7:02 a.m. On Saturday, they'll begin on the 10th tee starting at 12:22 p.m.
FIELD — In order of seeding, the 30 teams that have advanced to NCAA Finals are Stanford, Wake Forest, South Carolina, LSU, UCLA, Auburn, Southern California, Texas, Duke, Arkansas, Northwestern, Oregon, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Arizona State, Clemson, Florida State, Vanderbilt, Pepperdine, Virginia, Mississppi State, SMU, San Jose State, North Carolina, Michigan State, Purdue, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, and Tulsa.
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — The Waves' lineup consists of junior Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.), sophomore Jeneath Wong (Melbourne, Australia), seniors Lion Higo (Gold Coast, Australia) and Kaleiya Romero (San Jose, Calif.) and sophomore Yingzhi Zhu (Nanjing, China). Junior KaYee Kwok (Tianjin, China) will be the alternate.
For those in the lineup, it would be the second NCAA Final for Higo, Romero, Gomez and Wong. Zhu also traveled last year with the team as the alternate.
RANKINGS — Pepperdine is ranked #21 in the Clipp'd national rankings this week. In the Clipp'd national individual rankings, Wong is #34, Lauren Gomez is #62, Lion Higo ranks #143 and Kaleiya Romero is #152. In the WAGR, Wong is ranked #63, Higo ranks #93 and Romero is #180.
NCAA HISTORY — The Waves have advanced to the NCAA Championships for the 14th time - all of which have happened under the leadership of Head Coach Laurie Gibbs. Pepperdine last made it in 2023 and last season was the first time they advanced to match play since the format was adopted by the NCAA in 2015.
The Waves best-ever NCAA Tournament finish was second in 2003 when the tournament was still stroke-play format. Pepperdine has recorded five top-five and nine top-10 finishes at nationals. The Waves best finishes have been 2nd (2003), third (2006), fourth (2005) and fifth (1999, 2023) and the team has had nine finishes in the top-10 all-time.
NCAA REGIONAL — At the Waves 25th-consecutive Regional appearance, the squad finished in fifth-place with a score of 863 (283-290-290). The team's 1-under is the best 54-hole score at any NCAA Regional in program history.
To start regional play, Lion Higo's score of 5-under 67 tied the Pepperdine women's golf program record for lowest 18-hole score at an NCAA Regional, which had been achieved four times in program history thus far.
Pepperdine ended with four players in the top-20, led by Lauren Gomez, who finished tied for seventh. Her score of 4-under 212 tied for second in the record books for 54-hole individual scores at the NCAA Regionals, which has only been achieved twice before.
WCC CHAMPS — Pepperdine won the West Coast Conference Championships in Bremerton, Wash. at the Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club, for a league-best 21st time (out 27 possible tournaments) in the end of April. The Waves had three of the tournament's top-four finishers, led by medalist Lauren Gomez who won her second WCC career title (2022, 2024). Her win was the fifth-consecutive WCC Tournament win by the Waves. Lion Higo and Jeneath Wong finished in second and fourth respectively.
WCC POSTSEASON HONORS — Jeneath Wong became the 10th Pepperdine women's golfer, and the third in as many years, to earn West Coast Conference Player of the Year acclaim. Laurie Gibbs was named WCC Coach of the Year, her 16th time winning the award, Lion Higo, Kaleiya Romero, and Lauren Gomez all earned All-WCC first team acclaim as well.
SPRING HIGHLIGHTS — The Waves have played in five tournaments, one - the Therese Hession Regional Challenge - that turned into a match play format and four that were formatted for stroke-play. 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, 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, while closing up the month of March in third-place at the Fresno State Classic. In April, Pepperdine finished tied for fifth-place at the ultra-competitive Silverado Showdown before ending the month with the conference championship crown.
SMART COOKIES — Three Waves tabbed WCC All-Academic honors this season, led by a first team nod for Kaleiya Romero who has amassed a 3.634 grade point average while studying psychology at Pepperdine. Junior Lauren Gomez and sophomore Jeneath Wong also received acclaim with honorable mention honors.
WCC MONTHLY HONORS — Lauren Gomez garnered the season's third and final golfer of the month accolade after capping the month of April off with the WCC Championship title. Kaleiya Romero and Jeneath Wong tabbed the same honor for the months of February and March respectively.
OTHER AWARDS THIS SEASON — Senior Lion Higo and sophomore Jeneath Wong both received Golfweek Preseason All-American honors at the beginning of the fall season. Head Coach Laurie Gibbs was named to the WGCA National Coach of the Year Watch List prior to the NCAA Finals as well.
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. The team made Waves at the NCAA Regional as well, marking a 1-under for the best 54-hole score at any NCAA Regional in program history. Lion Higo posted a 5-under 67, which tied the program record for lowest 18-hole score at an NCAA Regional, a feat that had happened four other times in program history and last in 2018 –– Danielle Kang (2010, 1st round), Jessica Wallace (2010, 1st round), Somin Lee (2012, 3rd round) and Hira Naveed (2018, 1st round). After 54-holes of action, Lauren Gomez had amassed a 4-under 212, which tied for second in the record books for 54-hole individual scores at the NCAA Regionals, which has only been achieved twice before –– Grace Na (2014) and Naveed (2018).
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. Jeneath Wong now sits atop the program records with a 72.18 career scoring average after two seasons. Lauren Gomez and Higo currently rank fourth and fifth respectively in the program's career scoring average lists with a 73.40 and 73.41 scoring average respectively.
Players Mentioned
