MALIBU, Calif. — The Pepperdine men's golf team will open the spring season by hosting the 46th annual Southwestern Invitational on January 27-29.
 
The Waves won this tournament five years ago with a three-round score of 850 (-14). Sahith Theegala posted a 204 (-12) during the 2020 tournament to secure the individual championship.
 
EVENT INFO — The tournament will be held at the par-71, 7,081-yard Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California. There will be 54 holes of golf with 18 holes played each day. The Waves will be paired with Arizona and Texas during round one, and the pairings for rounds two and three will be determined by the leaderboard.
 
Live scoring will be available via Scoreboard by Clipp'd and can be found on the men's golf schedule page on www.PepperdineWaves.com. The tournament central can be found here.
 
FIELD — Along with #19 Pepperdine, the field includes #5 Texas, #10 UCLA, #11 Arizona, #14 Florida, #15 Vanderbilt, #24 Duke, #32 San Diego State, #43 USC, #44 UNLV, #62 California, #67 San Jose State, #76 Chattanooga and #113 Washington.
 
EVENT HISTORY — This is the 46th edition of the Southwestern Invitational. The tournament began in 1978 at North Ranch Country Club with USC as the host. C.W. Johnson served as tournament director for more than 25 years. North Ranch also hosted the 1988 NCAA Championships. The Southwestern Invitational has also been known as the Southwestern Intercollegiate, the USC Collegiate Invitational, the North Ranch Intercollegiate or the Cleveland Golf Classic over the years. Pepperdine and USC co-hosted the event in 2013 and 2014, and the Waves then took over sole hosting duties beginning in 2016.
 
Arizona State holds the record for most victories, with nine. Pepperdine has marked three first-place finishes (2006, 2017, and 2020), with Sahith Theegala (2017, 2020) being one of four two-time winners. Other Waves with individual first-place finishes also include Michael Walton (1995) and Jason Gore (1997).
 
PEPPERDINE LINEUP — Pepperdine's lineup consists of sophomore William Walsh (San Mateo, Calif.), junior Brady Siravo (Sacramento, Calif.), junior Mahanth Chirravuri (Chandler, Ariz.), graduate Nathan Han (Somers, N.Y.) and freshman Byungho Lee (Seoul, South Korea).
 
Freshman Luke Bailey (Encinitas, Calif.), junior Joshua Koo (Cerritos, Calif.) and sophomore Kristoffer Kuvaas (Houston, Texas) will all be competing as individuals.
 
WCC PRESEASON POLLS — The Waves were picked first in the preseason coaches poll after receiving 80 points and eight of the 10 first place votes. The full order went as follows: 1. Pepperdine (8), 2. Pacific (2), 3. San Diego, 4. LMU, 5. Oregon State, 6. Santa Clara, 7. Saint Mary's, 8. San Francisco, 9. Washington State, 10. Gonzaga.
 
Additionally, Luke Bailey, Mahanth Chirravuri and William Walsh made the WCC preseason squad.
 
FOLLOW —  Follow the Waves all season on social media @PeppGolf on Facebook, X and Instagram.  For updated scores, schedules and more, go to www.pepperdinewaves.com.
 
THE FALL CAMPAIGN — Pepperdine has competed in four traditional tournaments (play-five, count-four) so far this season, highlighting the fall campaign with a second-place finish at the Tindall Invitational where the Waves finished 19-under over three rounds of play.
 
Mahanth Chirravuri led the Waves with a 70.67 scoring average after 12-rounds played, tallying two top-10 finishes and seven below-par rounds. Luke Bailey and Byungho Lee were next for the squad with 71.67 and 72.5 scoring averages respectively. Lee earned an individual victory at the Bill Cullum Invitational where he shot a three-round score of 209 (-7).
 
RANKINGS — Pepperdine sits 19th in the NCAA rankings. The Waves are also tied for #22 in the Bushnell/Golfweek Division I coaches poll this week. Pepperdine opened the fall campaign ranked #21 in the Golf Channel preseason rankings. Mahanth Chirravuri is also ranked #60 in the USGA World Amateur Golf Rankings this week.
 
LAST TIME OUT — The Waves last competed at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate in October where the squad posted a three-round score of 861 (288-288-285) at the par-72, 7,092-yard Golf Club of Georgia. The Waves were led by Chirravuri who notched his sixth-career top-10 finish as a Wave. Chirravuri had two under-par rounds, including a 6-under 66 in the final round to climb up the leaderboard. Bailey also had two rounds under-par as he posted an impressive 5-under 67 in the opening round and 1-under 71 in the final round.
 
ROSTER — The Waves return five starters this season and welcome three newcomers.  Juniors Mahanth Chirravuri, Joshua Koo and Brady Siravo, as well as sophomores Kristoffer Kuvaas and William Walsh return after strong efforts last season.  Siravo is in his third year with the Waves after being a true freshman in 2022-23, while the other four begin their second.  Graduate transfer Nathan Han (Columbia) will look to make an impact for Pepperdine this season, while freshmen Luke Bailey (Encinitas, Calif./Santa Fe Christian HS) and Byungho Lee (Seoul, South Korea/Spring Creek Academy (Plano)) also joined the squad.  The breakdown is one graduate student, three juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen.
 
2023-2024 RECAP — Last season, Pepperdine finished in second-place at the WCC Championships stroke play, earning the #2 seed in the inaugural match play format.  The Waves defeated PCH Cup rival LMU in the semifinal before going head-to-head with eventual champions San Diego in the final bout.  Brady Siravo and William Walsh tied for first alongside LMU's Riley Lewis during stroke play, and while both outplayed the Lions' golfer in the playoff, Siravo came away with his first-ever collegiate tournament win. 
 
The Waves finished in the top-five in four tournaments and won one tournament throughout the season, the Saticoy Showdown in the spring, where Kristoffer Kuvaas won his first individual collegiate tournament as well.  Siravo, Walsh and Mahanth Chirravuri each tabbed All-West Coast Conference first team nods, while Chirravuri went on to earn PING All-West Region honors.  The same three Waves earned a bid to the NCAA Rancho Santa Fe Regional as individuals.
 
WAVES ON THE PGA TOUR — Four Pepperdine alumni are currently competing or earned their PGA Tour cards this season.  Sahith Theegala and Andrew Putnam have been playing for multiple years, while Joe Highsmith is in his first year with a card after earning it through the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour.  William Mouw will become the fourth Pepperdine alumnus with his Tour card.
 
THEEGALA EARNS SPOT ON U.S. PRESIDENTS CUP TEAM — Sahith Theegala earned a spot on the 2024 U.S. Presidents Cup Team in early September after hanging on to the sixth and final automatic qualifying spot at the BMW Championships at the end of August.  The U.S. Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe and is held bi-annually. This year's event will be held at the Royal Montreal Golf Course in Montreal, Canada on September 24-29.
 
Theegala will join the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Keegan Bradley, Sam Burns, Tony Finau, Brian Harman, Russell Henley and Max Homa on the American's squad.
 
PEPPERDINE GOLF — Thanks to its victories at the 1997 and 2021 NCAA Championships, Pepperdine has clinched a spot among the sport's elite. The Waves have made 13 appearances at the NCAA finals since 1993, and have achieved NCAA Regional berths in 27 of the last 32 tries. In the West Coast Conference, the Waves have won a league-best 22 championships since 1987 and have finished either first or second in 29 of the last 37 tournaments.

Pepperdine has had 21 student-athletes earn All-American honors a total of 33 times. Sahith Theegala was the unanimous national player of the year in 2020, and the Waves have had two Byron Nelson Award winners (Jason Allred in 2002 and Michael Putnam in 2005).  Four Waves will be competing on the PGA Tour next season, while three currently possess their PGA Tour cards.
 
BEARD — Former Pepperdine All-American Michael Beard is in his 13th season as the Waves' head coach. He earned the Dave Williams Award as the Division I National Coach of the Year in 2020 after leading the Waves to the #1 ranking before the pandemic cancelled the season, then led Pepperdine to the NCAA title in 2021. He became the first WCC men's golf coach ever to earn WCC Coach of the Year honors three consecutive years (beginning in 2016) and he extended that streak to six straight in 2022 (he and Gonzaga's Mark Few are the only WCC coaches to win six straight Coach of the Year awards). Beard competed for the Waves between 1999-2002 and was a GCAA All-American honorable mention selection in both 2000 and 2002. He was the medalist at the 2000 NCAA West Regional and the 2002 WCC Championships and was a four-time All-WCC first teamer. After playing professionally for several years, he served as an assistant coach at Pepperdine for one season and helped the Waves to make the 2011 NCAA Championships. Beard returned to Pepperdine in December 2012 after spending the previous season-and-a-half as an assistant at Arizona State.
 
JR. WAVES — Register your kid(s) to join Pepperdine's official kids club, "Jr. Waves" for the 2024-2025 academic year.  Jr. Waves receive an exclusive t-shirt, membership card and a lanyard that grants free general admission to all Pepperdine ticketed sporting events. Memberships start at $100 per kid.
 
ABOUT PEPPERDINE — Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports — one of just 20 schools to have accomplished this feat — and 10 overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 26 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, four times (most recently in 2022-23). Located in scenic Malibu, California, the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #80 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.