Women's Golf History

Pepperdine Women's Golf Media Guide

In just over a decade, the women's golf program has reached rare heights and has become a national championship contender under head coach Laurie Gibbs, who will be in her 18th year as head coach in 2010-11.

Laurie Gibbs

Since fielding its first team during the 1985-86 school year, the Pepperdine program made steady progress before exploding onto the national scene in 1999.

Pepperdine has made 10 appearances at the NCAA Championships in the last 12 years, finishing in the top 10 eight times and receiving national Top 10 rankings on nine occasions. The Waves have also won 12 West Coast Conference championships, including the last nine in a row.

Kerry Hopps, the head golf professional at the nearby Woodland Hills Country Club, served as Pepperdine's head coach during the program's first six years. Hopps relinquished her head coaching duties prior to the 1991-92 season. She was succeeded by Kristy Hopkins, a former basketball standout and golfer at Pepperdine, who held the spot for two seasons.

In an effort to further elevate the program, Gibbs, a former teaching professional at The Wilshire Country Club, was hired as the program's first-ever full-time head coach in the fall of 1993. Gibbs initiated an aggressive recruiting and fundraising effort and quickly succeeded in building a nationally recognized program in Malibu.

Gibbs was honored as the 2005 National Coach of the Year by Golfweek and the 1999 and 2003 NGCA West Region Coach of the Year. Additionally, she has been tabbed the West Coast Conference's Coach of the Year 10 times.

Under Gibbs, the Waves won the WCC championship for the first time in 1998, and then advanced to the NCAA Regionals and NCAA Championships for the first time in 1999. The Waves posted a fifth-place finish at the Tulsa (Okla.) Country Club. Making the accomplishment all the more impressive was the fact that Pepperdine reached new heights with a roster made up entirely of underclassmen. Pepperdine completed the 1998-99 season ranked No. 7 nationally in the final MasterCard rankings. The Waves competed in 12 tournaments during the course of the campaign, winning four events and finishing among the top five teams 11 times. In fact, the team's "worst" outing of the season was a respectable sixth-place finish at the 20-team NCAA West Regional Championships in Houston.

With two freshmen in its lineup in 2000, Pepperdine placed eighth at the NCAA Championships at the Crosswater Course in Sunriver, Ore. The Waves received a No. 5 national ranking in the Sagarin rankings and finished No. 9 in the MasterCard poll.

Katherine Hull

The Waves placed 14th at the 2001 NCAA Championships contested at the Mission Inn Golf Resort in Howey-In-The-Hills, Fla. Pepperdine was ranked No. 10 nationally by Golfstat, No. 11 by Golfweek and No. 12 in the final MasterCard listing. The Waves recorded top 10 finishes in 10 of 11 events, including a first-place finish at the UCLA Pioneer Bruin Classic.

Pepperdine tied Arizona State for ninth place at the 2002 NCAA Championships, played at the Washington National Golf Club in Auburn, Wash. The Waves were ranked No. 9 in the final Golfstat rankings and No. 12 by Golfweek. Pepperdine claimed three outright team titles, winning the Southern California California Intercollegiate, UCLA Pioneer Electronics Bruin Classic and WCC Championships. The Waves also tied UCLA for first place at the NCAA West Regional Championships at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.

Led by Gibbs, Pepperdine enjoyed its finest season ever during the 2002-03 campaign. The Waves advanced to the NCAA Championships, and led by senior All-Americans Katherine Hull and Lindsey Wright, produced their best-ever showing as they finished second at the event in West Lafayette, Ind. En route to the national championships, Pepperdine registered a school-record five straight tournaments during the spring and gained its first-ever No. 1 national ranking. The Waves qualified for their fifth straight NCAA Championships after placing fourth at the NCAA West Regional Championships at the Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. Hull led Pepperdine's run toward a national championship as she was tabbed the National Player of the Year and the recipient of the Dinah Shore Trophy Award. A three-time All-American, Hull climbed her way to a No. 1 national ranking before concluding the year with a 72.82 stroke average.

Lindsey Wright

Pepperdine produced another record-breaking season during the 2004-05 campaign as it finished in the top 10 in all 10 tournaments for the first time in school history. The Waves captured the prestigious Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge and claimed their seventh WCC championship while posting runner-up finishes at the Stanford Intercollegiate and UNLV Spring Invitational. Pepperdine capped its season with an impressive showing at the NCAA Championships where it led after two rounds before finishing fourth. The Waves were ranked No. 4 nationally in Golfstat and Golfweek's final rankings. The team was led by junior second team All-American Carolina Llano, who tied for sixth at the NCAA Championships, and sophomore Eileen Vargas, who received honorable mention All-American recognition. Gibbs was named the National Coach of the year.

For the third time in four years, the Pepperdine women's golf team made a significant run at a national championship as the Waves held the lead for a time during the final round before finishing third at the 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Golf Championships, held at the Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio, before finishing third. It was another remarkable season for Pepperdine as the Waves finished in the top five in 10 of the 11 tournaments in which they competed in, claiming victories at the Branch Law/Dick McGuire Invitational, Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational, Santa Clara Colby Invitational and WCC Championships. The Waves were ranked No. 5 nationally in the final Golfstat poll and No. 7 by Golfweek and were led by Vargas, an All-American second teamer, and Llano, who received All-American honorable mention recognition.

The 2007 season brought another impressive finish for the Waves, as they placed seventh at both the NCAA West Regional and the NCAA Championships, held at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla. Misun Cho earned All-American second team honors and Jayvie Agojo and Vargas claimed honorable mention notice.

Pepperdine returned to the NCAA Championships in 2009 thanks to a thrilling late rally at the NCAA West Regional where the Waves claimed the eighth and final spot in the final few holes. At the NCAAs, the Waves achieved a ninth-place finish. Lisa McCloskey earned All-American honorable mention honors.

The Waves had another fine year in 2010, finishing ninth in the final Golfweek/Sagarin rankings and tying for 14th place at the NCAA Championships. Freshman Danielle Kang earned Golfweek All-American second team honors while McCloskey was an All-American honorable mention selection for the second straight year.

Since Gibbs took over in 1993-94, Pepperdine has recorded 37 tournament victories and has had its players earn first-place finishes 39 times. Additionally, 10 different players have earned All-American honors a total of 20 times.

Head Coach Laurie Gibbs

2012-13

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