Hitchner claims individual crown, leads Pepperdine to team title in Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo

   Pepperdine looks like it’s headed for another run deep run in the NCAA postseason.

   The Waves have been among men’s college golf’s elite for the last four years. They were ranked No. 1 by Golfstat and led by Sahith Theegala – you know, the guy who finished in ninth place in The Masters last week -- when the wraparound 2019-2020 season ended prematurely with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. A year later, Pepperdine stood atop the college golf world, hoisting one of those iconic trophies emblematic of an NCAA champion.

   A year ago, the Waves returned to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz., the scene of their 2021 championship run, and reached the semifinals before falling to Arizona State.

   Derek Hitchner, a graduate student from Minneapolis, Minn. and No. 41 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR), has been there for all of it, so it was probably fitting that his individual title in the 76^th Western Intercollegiate, the first of a stellar college career, led Pepperdine to the team crown, in one of last really big regular-season tournaments contested at Pasatiempo Golf Club, the highly-regarded Alister MacKenzie design in Santa Cruz, Calif.

   The field tells you it’s a big event, the golf course tells you it’s a big event and 76 years of history tells you it’s a big event. But if that’s not enough, the fact that The Golf Channel cameras were rolling seals it. Pepperdine used a team win in the Western Intercollegiate as a springboard to its run to an NCAA crown in 2021.

   The Pepperdine lineup is loaded with guys who transferred to take the extra year granted to them by the NCAA to make up for the spring of 2020 lost to the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. But Hitchner and William Mouw, a senior from Chino, Calif. and No. 7 in the WAGR, have been there all along and it looks like they’re ready for another postseason run.

   Hitchner opened with a 2-under-par 68 over the 6,514-yard, par-70 Pasatiempo layout and then added a sizzling 6-under 64 in Tuesday’s second round that left him in third place, a shot behind teammate Sam Choi, a graduate student from Anaheim, Calif. and No. 42 in the WAGR, going into Wednesday’s final round. Hitchner closed with a 1-over 71 for a 7-under 203 total that left him one shot clear of the field.

   Not sure if it was weather conditions or course setup, probably a little of both, but the course appears to have played considerably more difficult in Wednesday’s final round.

   The tournament was played with a six-score-five format as opposed to the usual five-score-four, giving coaches an opportunity to see some of their guys in action before they are forced to narrow their lineups to just five players for the NCAA regionals to come.

   Pepperdine, No. 8 in the latest Golfstat rankings, opened with a 5-under 345 before unleashing a tournament-record smashing 22-under 328 in Tuesday’s second round. Pepperdine erased California’s previous single-round record of 16-under 334, established a day earlier, by six shots and the Waves’ 36-hole total of 27-under 673 also established a tournament record.

   Pepperdine, a perennial West Coast Conference power, closed with an 11-over 361 for a 16-under 1,034 total that was nine shots better than runnerup Oregon, a Pac-12 power ranked 22^nd. The Ducks opened with a sparkling 15-under 335 and added a 2-over 352 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 6-over 356 for a 7-under 1,043 total.

   Oregon was led by Owen Avrit, a senior from Arroyo Grande, Calif. and No. 85 in the WAGR who earned a share of runnerup honors in the individual chase with UNLV’s Yuki Moriyama, a junior from Japan, as each landed on 6-under 204, a shot behind Hitchner.

   Avrit was tied for the lead with Choi going into the final round as he added a 4-under 66 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening round of 5-under 65 before cooling off a little in the final round with a 3-over 73.

   Another Pac-12 entry, No. 51 California, briefly held the tournament’s single-round record with its opening round of 16-under 334. But the Golden Bears couldn’t maintain their momentum from that sizzling start as they added a 12-over 362 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 4-over 354 that left them in third place, seven shots behind Oregon with an even-par 1,050 total.

   At No. 7, the Pac-12’s Stanford, was the highest-ranked team in the field, but it was a little bit of a disappointing fourth-place finish for the Cardinal as they finished 18 shots behind their rival Cal with an 18-over 1,068 total.

   Stanford got off to a great start with an 11-under 339, but backed off with a 9-over 359 in Tuesday’s second and a final round of 20-over 370.

   Pepperdine’s West Coast Conference rival, No. 44 BYU, and No. 24 Colorado State, out of the Mountain West Conference, finished a shot behind Stanford in a tie for fifth place in the 14-team field, each landing on 19-over 1,069.

   After opening with a 2-over 352, the Cougars put together a solid 10-under 340 in Tuesday’s second round before struggling with a 377 in the final round. The Rams matched BYU’s opening round of 2-over 352 and added a 9-over 359 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with an 8-over 358.

   Choi, who transferred to Pepperdine after being a four-year standout at New Mexico, backed up Hitchner as he finished alone in fourth place with a 5-under 205 total. Choi took a share of the lead into the final round after adding a 5-under 65 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening round of 4-under 66 before cooling off in the final round with a 4-over 74.

   Mouw, like Hitchner, a veteran of this golden era of golf at Pepperdine, finished in 13^th place with a 1-under 209 total as he carded back-to-back 1-under 69s in the first two rounds before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Luke Gifford, a graduate student from Boca Raton, Fla. who transferred to Pepperdine after a standout career at South Florida, was another shot behind Mouw in a tie for 14^th place at even-par 210. Gifford added a 3-under 67 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 69 before finishing up with a 4-over 74.

   Ian Maspat, a sophomore from San Diego, Calif., gave Pepperdine a fifth finisher inside the top 20 as he ended up among the group tied for 19^th place with a 3-over 213 total. After opening with a 3-over 73, Maspat recorded a 1-under 69 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Roberto Nieves was Delaware’s best player the last few years before the Miami, Fla. native transferred to Pepperdine for his fifth year of eligibility. Nieves struggled in the opening round and the final round with a pair of 77s at Pasatiempo.

   But Nieves found the magic in Tuesday’s second round, proving to be a valuable sixth man as he matched the single-round Western Intercollegiate record with a scintillating 7-under 63 that sparked the Waves to their record-setting team performance. Nieves finished in the group tied for 34^th place with a 7-over 217 total.

   UNLV’s Moriyama had three rounds in the 60s to get his share of second place with Oregon’s Avrit as he added a 3-under 67 to his opening-round 68 before closing with a solid 1-under 69.

   California’s Sampson Zheng finished a shot behind Choi in fifth place with a 4-under 206 total as he opened with a sparkling 4-under 66 before twice matching par with a pair of 70s in the final two rounds.

   Seven players finished in a tie for sixth place at 2-under 208, including a pair of Colorado State players in Christoph Bleier, a sophomore from Austria, and Davis Bryant, a graduate student from Aurora, Colo.

   After matching par in the opening round with a 70, Bleier registered back-to-back 1-under 69s in the final two rounds. Bryant opened with a 3-under 67 and matched par with a 70 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Avrit’s Oregon teammate, Greg Solhaug, a junior from Norway, also landed at 2-under as he fired an opening salvo of 6-under 64 and struggled a little with a 5-over 75 in Tuesday’s second before finishing up with a solid 1-under 69.

   Moriyama’s UNLV teammate, Caden Fioroni, a junior from San Diego and No. 53 in the WAGR also joined the group-at 2-under as he was just three shots out of the lead heading into the final round after adding a sparkling 4-under 66 in Tuesday’s second round to his opening-round 68. Fioroni backed off a little with a 4-over 74 in the final round.

   Zheng’s California teammate, Aaron Du, a junior from China, joined the group at 2-under as he matched the Western Intercollegiate single-round individual record with his opening round of 7-under 63. Du cooled off with a 4-over 74 in Tuesday’s second round before closing with a 1-over 71.

   Rounding out the bulky group tied for sixth place were California-Irvine’s Darien Zhao, a junior from San Diego, Calif., and BYU’s Keanu Akina, a junior from Kahuku, Hawaii.

   Zhao opened with a sparking 3-under 67 and added a 68 in Tuesday’s second round before finishing up with a 3-over 73. Akina was just three shots out of the individual lead going into the final round after adding a 68 in Tuesday’s second round to a strong 4-under 66 with which he opened. Akina backed off a little with a 4-over 74 in Wednesday’s final round.

   Interesting name in the Stanford lineup as Nate Menon, a sixth-year player who was the winner of the PIAA Class AA individual crown as a junior at Wyomissing in 2015, finished in the group tied for 22^nd place with a 4-over 214 total.

   Menon matched par in the opening round with a 70 before carding back-to-back 2-over 72s in the last two rounds.

   Menon was a member of Stanford’s 2019 national championship team, although he wasn’t in the lineup for the regionals or at the NCAA Championship at The Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Ark. He made a strong case for inclusion in the lineup for the Cardinal four years later when they head for the NCAA regionals.