ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The 2024-25 fall campaign got underway for the #17 Pepperdine women’s golf team, as the Waves finished up two rounds at the Branch Law Firm Dick McGuire Invitational presented by Margaret Moses Branch and Annette Arrigoni.  After posting a 585 (294-291), the team will head into the third and final round tomorrow in fifth-place.
 
Highlight of the day was a stellar performance by senior Lauren Gomez who is in first-place after collecting a two-round score of 6-under 138 (67-71).  Though she bogeyed early in the day on hole four, she rallied to even her score with a birdie on five and then continued to impress with five more birdies on her final eight bogeyless holes.  Her 5-under 67 in the first round is one shy of her career-best.  She stayed solid in the second round, staying 1-under after posting four birdies and three bogeys through the round.
 
UNLV holds a seven-stroke lead for first-place after tabbing a 576 (288-288), while CSU Fullerton and Long Beach State are tied for second-place.  Grand Canyon and Pepperdine round out the top five.
 
Pepperdine will be paired with GCU and Northern Arizona tomorrow for the final round, teeing off again at 7:30 a.m. on holes four through seven.
 
PLAYER SCORES

• Senior Lauren Gomez (Murrieta, Calif.) leads all competitors with 10 birdies.
• Junior Yingzhi Zhu (Nanjing, China) is tied for 15^th with a two-round score of 147 (73-74).  She amassed seven birdies in total, including four in the first round.
• Junior Jeneath Wong (Melbourne, Australia) posted a 148 (77-71) to sit tied for 23^rd after day one.  She had a slow start in the first round, but rallied to shoot 1-under in her first 12 bogeyless holes of the second round.  Although she shot 1-over on hole 13, she answered without another error and a birdie on her final hole of the day for a high note.
• Freshman Grace Anderson (Burlington, Ontario, Canada) is tied for 45^th with a score of 152 (77-75).  She had three birdies and all were tallied in the second round.
• Senior KaYee Kwok (Tianjin, China) is in 85^th with a score of 172 (88-84).

 
THE NUMBERS
Team Scores: 1. UNLV 576; T2. CSU Fullerton 583; T2. Long Beach State 583; 4. Grand Canyon 584; 5. Pepperdine 585; 6. Northern Arizona 589; 7. Cal Poly 595; T8. Nevada 596; T8. BYU 596; 10. New Mexico 597; 11. Texas State 606; 12. UTEP 609; 13. Chattanooga 611; 14. Hawai’i 622; 15. Kennesaw State 624.
 
Individual Scores: 1. Lauren Gomez (Pepperdine) 138; 2. Davina Xanh (CSUF) 139; 3. Jasmine Leovao (LBSU) 140; 4. Maria Garcia (New Mexico) 141; T5. Toa Yokoyama (UNLV) 142; T5. Maria Jose Barragan (BYU) 142.