By Hailey Amato
Staff Writer
Stepping out from the shadows, sophomore Carolina Llano is ready to show that she is one of the best collegiate golfers in the country.
Llano dominated the field at the NCAA Fall Preview Tournament last weekend, snatching first place at her team’s first showing since it finished second at last year’s NCAA finals.
In doing so, she helped the Pepperdine women’s golf team to a No. 10 finish, catapulting the Waves full force into their fall season.
They will make their next debut Sept. 25 in Albuquerque, N.M., at the Branch Law Firm Dick McGuire Invitational.
“I think we’ll do really well,” Head Coach Laurie Gibbs said. “Coming off a course that was so difficult, we’re ready for New Mexico. All our players should be able to perform.”
After their top-10 finish against many of the nation’s toughest teams, the No. 15-ranked Waves are looking forward to facing tough competition again.
The McGuire Invitational will match the Waves up against some of the most elite programs in golf today.
The first tournament of the year is always a starting point. In this case, the NCAA Fall Preview Tournament was a good scale for the Pepperdine team to judge where they stand early in the season.
The results made players and coach alike optimistic, Llano said.
Llano took first in the three-day tournament, hitting a 5-under par 211 on the 54-hole course. She snatched the title by three points from Oklahoma’s Lisa Meldrum to mark her second career individual win.
Llano carded a personal-best of 6-under par 66 in the final round to move herself into first. She fired the low score of the weekend as well as a hole-in-one. Her final-round score was also good for the fourth-lowest individual 18-hole score in Pepperdine golf history.
Rookie Eileen Vargas finished in 28th place with an 8-over par score of 224 in her first collegiate appearance.
“She did great,” Gibbs said. “She played some solid golf. She’s going to be a big contributor this year.”
Junior Rachel Kyono shot a final score of 235, junior Maria Cristina Arenas shot a final score of 242 and sophomore Courtney Clark shot a 247 for the Waves.
No. 1 ranked Duke took the team championship by outdoing Auburn in the tiebreaker. Both teams finished at 6-over par 870.
Their 42-over par score of 906 proves that Pepperdine still has the talent to compete with the nation’s best.
“We lost two good players, but we still have the team to do very well this year,” Llano said. “If we keep practicing, and continue to stay consistent I know this team can go far.”
Gibbs said the season is looking good for the Waves.
“We finished the last tournament right where we should be at this point,” Gibbs said. “To finish in the Top Ten at our first tournament is something to be proud of. If we can have a couple players not play their best and still achieve a finish like that in a great field it shows we are going to be up there with the best.”
September 18, 2003
