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PEPPERDINE WINS!!!
epperdine got the chance it was denied last year and made the most of it. The Waves, who were ranked No. 1 in the nation in 2020 when the rest of the season was cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic, defeated Oklahoma, 3-2, in the match-play final to win the 2021 NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Pepperdine claimed its second NCAA title, also having won it in 1997. “It was hard to be that level (last year), have a chance at winning the National Championship, and be stopped short by Covid-19,” said Coach Michael Beard, a 2002 Pepperdine graduate from Palm Desert who returned to his alma mater in 2013 to coach the Waves. “But we told our guys that even though last year was a lost chance, we have next year to look forward to, and they all came back better than they were. They wanted to prove something.” Clay Feagler, a redshirt senior from Laguna Nigel, provided the Waves with the winning point when he pulled out a 1-up victory over Ben Lorenz of Oklahoma by halving the 18th hole with a four-foot par putt. Left-hander Joe Highsmith, a junior from Lakeland, Wash., gave Pepperdine a 4-and-3 victory over Garret Reband, and William Mouw, a sophomore from Chino, beat Quade Cummins, also by 4 and 3. Jonathan Brightwell of Oklahoma defeated Dylan Menante, a sophomore from 14
SUMMER 2021
California Golf + Travel
Carlsbad, 1 up, and the Sooners’ other point came when Logan McCallister downed Joey Vrzich, a senior from El Cajon, also by 1 up. “It’s just surreal to have to come down to No. 18 and win the final point here,” said Feagler, who could have left Pepperdine after last season. “The last three holes were so unnerving. I didn’t play all that well a year ago and wanted to come back and make up for it, but this is just unreal.” It wasn’t easy. Pepperdine was ninth after the third round of stroke-play qualifying and had to climb into the top eight to have a chance to play for the National Championship, but rallied with a big final day to finish third. “We really stepped up big in that fourth round, which put us in the third slot,” Beard said. “The scores were so high that day, we probably could have made it with an average day because we were so close to the number, but we really went low.” “We still would have made it, but we really came out to play in that fourth round and we rode that momentum into the next two days. We actually have a solid six-man team. We kept Joe Highsmith out the first day and then put him in, and he went 3-0 in match play. He’s tough to beat.” In the quarterfinals of match play, the Waves defeated Florida State, 3-1-1, and in the semifinals they downed Oklahoma State, 3-0-2.
