The Pepperdine University men’s golf team has qualified for the NCAA Championships and will be competing this week at the Karsten Creek Course in Stillwater, Okla. The Waves won the National Championship in 1997 and will be making their eighth appearance at the nationals.
Pepperdine qualified for the first time at the championships since its last appearance in 2006 by finishing fourth at the NCAA Southwest Regionals in Tuscon, Ariz. The Waves are led by seniors Andrew Putnam and Andrew Widmar. The rest of the roster includes Josh Anderson, Johnny Mac Arthur and Parker Page.
“I’m excited for the team and especially the seniors,” Pepperdine Coach John Geiberger said. “Anytime you can punch that ticket it revalidates your program.
“You can see the culmination of the finish line. It makes all the hard work that the kids have put in pay off with a reward such as this.”
The NCAA Championships will feature 30 of the best teams in the country competing for three days. Three rounds of stroke play will determine the individual champion as well as the top eight squads who advance to the team championship in match play June 3-5.
Karsten Creek Course was built in 1994 and it features more than 7,400 yards of challenging fairways, greens, creeks and lakes. It was designed to be the elite college golf course in America.
“The course is very challenging but it sets up pretty well for our guys,” Geiberger said. “We just need to stick to our routines. The guys are focused, working hard and they are certainly excited.”
Pepperdine finished runner-up to San Francisco for the WCC Championship this year. But the Waves performance in Tuscon was very positive and the team is peaking at the right time.
“We are showing signs of a balanced group,” Geiberger said. “We need to be strong one through five. It’s been a good week of practice and we are ready to go.”
“We didn’t play well as a team during conference,” Putnam added. “We knew we all had to contribute at regionals if we had a chance. Everyone played well. All of us are looking forward to the opportunity to play in the NCAAs because none of us have been there before.”
Putnam has been playing golf since he was eight years old. He is a two-time All-American for the Waves and a three-time All-Region and All-WCC selection. His brother, Michael, was a three-time All-American at Pepperdine who participated in the NCAA Championships on two occasions. Now it’s Andrew’s turn to lead the Waves in pursuit of the ultimate prize in the sport.
“Since I came here this is something I always dreamed of doing,” Putnam stated. “It was disappointing having not made it the past few years. It was definitely one of my goals to make it to the NCAAs before I graduated. I’m happy we are here.”
Putnam and Anderson bring valuable experience to Stillwater as the two played at Karsten Creek Course as part of the NCAA South Central regional two years ago for Pepperdine.
“Our goal is to get into the top eight of match play because anything can happen,” Putnam said.