Josh McCarthy (NCGA photo)
Playing all the way across the country, Pepperdine took the first-round lead at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate on Friday as they try to chase a second-consecutive October win. The Waves went 12 under in Alpharetta, Ga., which was seven shots better than Stanford.
The Waves fired a 12-under 276 at the par-72 Golf Club of Georgia, with four of five players finishing under par. Josh McCarthy and Joe Highsmith led that charge, as each posted a 4-under 68. That put them in a share of fourth individually with Wake Forest’s Mark Power.
The individual leaderboard is crowded at the top with three men doing one better: Stanford’s David Snyder, USC’s Yuxin Lin (recent winner of the Asia-Pacific Amateur) and Texas A&M’s William Paysse all opened with 5-under 67.
For Pepperdine, freshman William Mouw got on a four-birdie streak from Nos. 9-12 which helped him to a 3-under 69. Redshirt senior Sahith Theegala was the other Pepperdine counter with a 1-under 71.
The Waves got their first season victory last week at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. They are ranked No. 5 by
Golfweek and were No. 5 in the latest Bushnell/
Golfweek Coaches Poll to be released on Friday.
Behind Stanford in second, Duke had a 4-under 284 on Friday to fall into third, followed by UCLA and North Carolina in a tie for fourth one shot back.
Playing at home, Georgia Tech is ninth at 2 over.
ABOUT THE Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate
The United States Collegiate Championship,
hosted by Georgia Tech, annually brings 15 of
the nation's top college teams to The Golf Club
of Georgia for a three-day, 54-hole
tournament
that has been called "the Masters of college
golf.” Started in 2006, the USCC offers PGA
Tour-type, championship conditions for the
nation's finest college players, including a
personal caddie for all three rounds. Long
pants
are required and galleries are able to walk in
the
fairways behind the players, similar to the
Walker Cup. The USCC crowns a Team
Champion
and Individual Champion and honors them on
the
perpetual mahogany, gold and crystal USCC
Trophy, which sits in The Golf Club of Georgia
lobby.
View Complete Tournament Information