The Waves are staying close to home for their very first tournament, heading to picturesque Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, one of their regular practice sites.
The first round saw a record performance by RJ Manke, as he somehow put together an 11-under 61 that included 12 birdies and one bogey. It wasn’t too far removed from reality, as Manke holds the actual Pepperdine record with a 10-under 61 at the 2018 Alister MacKenzie Invitational.
Manke will head into the second round with a five-shot lead over Joey Vrzich.
Leaderboard: 1. RJ Manke 61; 2. Joey Vrzich 66; T3. Clay Feagler 68; T3. Roy Cootes 68; T5. Kevin DeHuff 69; T5. Joshua McCarthy 69; T7. Johnny Mac Arthur 70; T7. Joe Highsmith 70; T9. Josh Anderson 73; T9. Frederick Wedel 73; T9. Derek Hitcher 73; T12. Cody McManus 74; T12. Austin Murphy 74; T14. Andrew Putnam 76; T14. Sahith Theegala 76; 16. William Mouw 78.
- Manke birdied his first three holes and was 4-under at the turn. He birdied seven of the final nine holes, including each of the last four.
- Five of Vrzich’s eight birdies came on the back nine en route to his 6-under 66.
- Two golfers finished without a bogey: Cootes (4-under 68) and DeHuff (3-under 69).
- Wedel was cruising along at 4-under without a miscue after 13 holes, but put up a snowman on the par-4 14th, then added a double-bogey on 16.
- Highsmith had the best recovery to a bad start, as he was 3-over after three holes but finished at 2-under.
- Highsmith and Hitchner recorded eagles on par-5s on the back nine.
- The dice were not kind to the favorites. Somehow, the two best-carded players (Theegala and Putnam) are tied for 14th and a top-five player (Mouw) is 16th.
ROGER SPORTS & GAMES 