Clay Feagler beat Pepperdine teammate Dylan Menante on the second playoff hole to earn the individual title for the second time, and they led the Waves to a 24-stroke victory over Brigham Young in the 2021 West Coast Conference Men’s Golf Championships at Reflection Bay Golf Club in Henderson, Nev.
The Waves posted a score of 269-272-274—815, 49-under-par, while BYU finished at 277-279-283—839, and San Francisco was third at 278-281-283—842, followed by St. Mary’s at 291-274-278—843 and University of San Diego at 283-279-283—845.
“Our conference gets better every year, so to pull it out like this, it means more and more to the program and our players,” said Pepperdine Coach Michael Beard, whose Waves won for the fifth time this season and collected a record 21st WCC title, 10 more than any other school. “We didn’t know exactly what to expect from the course. We knew that if the wind was down it was scoreable. It was a great course. It was a great experience for us.
“It’s a weird feeling when you have two players you want to win in the playoff, but they can’t. I’m really happy for Clay. Dylan’s a great player, he’s had such a great year, and I feel for him. But we’re happy to win as a team and to have the individual winner is special.”
Loyola Marymount was sixth at 286-278-289—853, followed by Santa Clara at 290-284 286—860, Pacific at 291-288-285—864, and Gonzaga at 289-296-280—665.
Feagler, a senior from Laguna Nigel who also claimed the WCC individual title in 2018, made a birdie on the 17th hole and finished regulation play at 68-65-72—205, 11-under, while Menante, a sophomore from Carlsbad, equaled that score at 67-67-71—205.
“It’s kind of crazy, winning it back in 2018 and I didn’t know how big it was back then,” Feagler said after claiming his fourth college title. “But now being a two-time winner, it hits home more. You never want to face your teammate in a playoff, it’s the worst thing possible, but I was glad to come out on top today.
“The last four events, we’ve been trending the right direction. We’ve been playing well. Going to Regionals, we need to keep playing consistent golf and keep our composure and try to get top five.”
Ethan Ashbrook of St. Mary’s shot 72-68-66—206 to tie for third with Joe Highsmith of Pepperdine, who wound up at 67-73-66—206, and Carson Lundell of BYU, who finished at 68-67-71—206.
Jamie Cheatham of San Diego was sixth at 69-67-71—207, while Joey Vrzich of Pepperdine totaled 73-67-68—208 to tie for seventh with Andi Xu of San Diego, who shot 72-68-68—208, and Gavin Cohen of Loyola Marymount, who came in at 66-71-71—208, and Kelton Hirsch of BYU was 10th at 67-70-72—209.
Soren Lind led USF in a tie for 11th at 70-69-71—210, and Leonardo Rigamonti of Pacific tied for 16th at 74-69-70—213.
William Mouw capped the scoring for team champion Pepperdine by tying for 13th at 67-75-69—211.
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