MEN’S COLLEGE GOLF
Stanford’s Michael Thorbjornsen’s two Top 10 finishes has him ranked 3rd in the nation.
PEPPERDINE STARTS STRONG THEN STUMBLES D
efending NCAA champion Pepperdine has started the season strong with three finishes in the top 10, including a victory in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, but the Waves might have run out of gas trying to defend their title in the East Lake Cup. Only day after winning at the Golf Club Georgia in Alpharetta, Ga., the Waves went right into the East Lake Cup at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta and captured the stroke-play title by shooting 5-under-par 283, with Arizona State second at 287, followed by Oklahoma State and Oklahoma in a tie for third at 292. However, after Pepperdine beat Oklahoma in both the East Lake Cup finals and the NCAA Championships in head-to-head matchups last season, the Sooners got a bit of revenge with a 3-1-1 victory over Pepperdine in the semifinals of match play to determine the champion. “We were 2-0 with them starting today, so now we’re 2-1,” Coach Michael Beard of Pepperdine said. 16
FALL 2021
California Golf + Travel
“They were ready to play. They came out ready and firing. We got down early in three matches and it was just hard to come back. They’re a great team.” Pepperdine, No. 9 in the Golfweek Men’s College Rankings after finishing in the top 10 of their first two events, came back to salvage the Consolation at East Lake title by beating Arizona State, 3-2. For some reason, Joe Highsmith of Pepperdine isn’t getting much respect in the rankings even though he played a big role in the Waves winning the NCAA title last year and gotten off to a strong start. Highsmith, a senior from Lakewood, Wash., claimed his second individual college title in the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate and tied for ninth in the Colonial Collegiate Invitational, but was ranked only 104th . Joey Vrzich, a Pepperdine redshirt senior from El Cajon, was at No. 43, and Derek Hitchner, a senior from Minneapolis, at No. 45, but
Pepperdine and Highsmith are too good not to move up. Stanford is highest California team in the rankings at No. 3 after winning the Colonial Collegiate Invitational among three finishes in the top 10 in as many tournaments, with Michael Thorbjornsen, a sophomore Wellesley, Mass., third in the nation after two top-10 results; Henry Shimp, a senior from Charlotte, N.C., at No. 15, and Karl Vilips, a sophomore from Australia, at No. 56. San Francisco is ranked 29th in the nation, with Alex Chin, a redshirt senior from Pleasanton at No. 84 in the individual rankings; UC Davis is No. 56, with Thomas Hutchison, a senior from San Jose at 38th in the rankings, while San Diego State is No. 60, UCLA is No. 63 and the University of San Diego is No. 74. St. Mary’s is No. 75 with Mikey Slesinski, a graduate student from Fremont, ranked 55th, while San Jose State is No. 78 and Loyola Marymount is 97th.
