April 12, 2004

WCC Golf Championships Underway

(Fresno, CA) - Under the direction of first-year head coach Tim Mickelson, the University of San Diego golf team is visiting Riverbend Golf Club in Madera, California to compete in the 2004 West Coast Conference Golf Championships. San Diego has never won a team title at the WCC Championships- dominated by Pepperdine, who has claimed the event five straight times. Torero Patrick Hawkins was USD's most recent individual winner (1998) after he posted a 1-under 215. The tournament spans three rounds Monday and Tuesday.

The WCC has sponsored men's golf championships since 1969, and the event has been dominated in the last decade by Pepperdine University. The Waves, have claimed 11 WCC championships since 1990 (and 13 in all dating back to 1987) and took home the NCAA championship title in 1997.

With the tremendous golf success in the West Coast Conference over the years, the conference added a women's golf championship beginning in 1997. The title has been the property of Pepperdine and San Francisco during its seven-year history, with the Lady Dons winning twice and the Waves taking it home five times. Both schools have finished either first or second in all seven tournaments.

WCC IN THE RANKINGS

The Pepperdine women headline the golf rankings in the WCC. Pepperdine is ranked #27 in the Golf World Women's Poll. In the Golfweek/Sagarin Women's District Rankings (through March 7th), Pepperdine is 9th, and San Francisco is 12th. The Waves are led by the women's #21 ranked individual, sophomore Carolina Llano, as well as the #76 ranked women's player, freshman Eileen Vargas. San Francisco's Kristi Larsen is ranked at #58, while the team is ranked at #31. On the men's side, Pepperdine is the conference's highest ranking team at #31 with Michael Putnam leading the way ranked #29 nationally. In the Men's District Rankings, Pepperdine is ranked at #8, while Saint Mary's comes in at #13.