Kathrine Chan’s impressive freshman season at Pepperdine University continued at last weekend’s West Coast Athletic Conference Championships in Spokane WA.
The Richmond golfer helped the California school capture the conference title for the first time since 2015 by rallying to defeat three-time defending champion Brigham Young at the par-71 Manito Country Club.
The Waves finished three strokes better than BYU (277-280) with Chan helping the cause with final round birdies on 14 and 15 —on her way to shooting a 73 and finishing 10th overall (74-77-73) in the individual standings.
The Quilchena junior standout and Burnett graduate is the lone freshman on the Waves five-player tournament roster with senior Hira Naveed from Australia capturing individual honours with rounds of 74-70-68.
Pepperdine opened Saturday’s final round in first place, but as one of four teams within four shots of the lead.
San Francisco and host Gonzaga quickly fell off the pace, while BYU went in front for most of the front nine. From the 11th hole to the finish, Pepperdine's four scoring players carded a total of 6-under as the Waves overtook the Cougars. The Waves' 1-over 285 was the best round of the tournament.
“This championship means a lot. We knew it was going to be tough out there. We knew we had to play well today,” said Pepperdine coach Laurie Gibbs. “It means everything and I'm so proud of our seniors, led by Hira. They played flawless today coming down the stretch. Hira has had a great year and to go out there and play like she did, we really needed it.”
The Waves roster in Spoke also featured junior Momoka Kobori (New Zealand) and seniors Hanna Haythorne (Hawaii) and Patricia Wong (California).
Pepperdine entered the Conference Championships ranked 28th in the country. The NCAA Regionals are slated for May 6-8.
