MEN’S COLLEGE GOLF
PEPPERDINE MEN BEST IN THE WEST
Joshua McCarthy
W
ith the Pacific 12 Conference’s California men’s golf teams all seemingly going through a down year, Pepperdine has stepped to the head of the class in the Golden State. Of course, the Waves always have been able to hold their own against the big boys, winning the 1997 NCAA Championship and being competitive virtually every season under Coach Michael Beard—the 2020 National Coach of the Year and four-time West Coast Conference Coach of the Year. After winning three times and finishing second in its other event during the Fall Season, Pepperdine gained its first victory of the Spring recently in the 74th Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz after placing seventh or better in their previous five tournaments of 2021.
16
SPRING 2021
“We’ve been trending in the right direction and it was great to get out of here with a victory,” Beard said after the Waves beat Stanford by 11 strokes in Santa Cruz. “We were just super grateful and very excited to be able to compete together this Fall (after most of the 2020 season was cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic).” And the Waves have taken advantage of the situation, currently ranked No. 6 in the Golfweek/Sagarin national rankings and placing five players in the top 65 of the men’s individual rankings. Left-hander Joshua McCarthy, a redshirt senior from Danville, somehow is ranked only No. 40 despite having claimed the individual title in the Pasadera Invitational and the Rustic Collegiate Classic, in
California Golf + Travel
addition to finishing second in the Southwestern Invitational. Dylan Menante is ranked No. 14 nationally for Pepperdine, with Joey Vrzich at No. 16, RJ Manke at No. 47 and Joe Highsmith, another southpaw, at No. 65. Highsmith claimed his first college title in the Western Intercollegiate, finishing in a tie for first before winning with a par on the fourth playoff holes. The Waves also have William Mouw, a sophomore from Chino who was an All-American as a freshman and recently was named to the 2021 United States Walker Cup team. Mouw has struggled a bit this season with only two top-10 finishes in eight events and is ranked No. 118, but is No. 26 in the Men’s World Amateur Rankings. “It’s challenging to pare eight or nine good players down to five, especially heading toward the postseason,” Beard said. San Diego State is second among California schools in the men’s national rankings at No. 24, followed by San Francisco at No. 25, USC at No. 47 and Stanford at No 48. University of San Diego is No. 55, with Loyola Marymount at No. 68, St. Mary’s at No. 73, Long Beach State at No. 89 and UC Davis at No. 91. California is No. 92, with Santa Clara at No. 97, UCLA at No. 98 and Fresno State at No. 100. Among the other California individuals in the top 100, Barclay Brown of Stanford is No. 36, Soren Lind of USF is No. 57, Tommy Stephenson of Fresno State is No. 68, Kaito Onishi of USC is No. 70 and Puwit Anupansuebsai of San Diego State is No. 89.
