ASU Ends Pepperdine's Reign as NCAA Champ

College

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Derek Hitchner made two birdies down the stretch to win the deciding point for Pepperdine on Tuesday in the NCAA Division I Men's Championship quarterfinals. But the Waves' defense of the team title that they won a year ago came to an end a few hours later, when they lost 4-1 to the host Arizona State team at Grayhawk Golf Club. 

In the semifinals Tuesday afternoon, ASU's Cameron Sisk did to Hitchner what the 2021 Minnesota State Amateur champ had done to North Carolina's Ryan Gerard in the morning, making a pair of back-nine birdies to claim a 2&1 victory. But by the time Sisk secured his 2&1 victory, it didn't really matter. The Sun Devils already had the required three points for a victory.

Sisk made the final 4-1. So ASU will face Texas on Wednesday morning at Grayhawk in the title match.

Texas, the No. 4 seed, earned its place in the final with a 3-1-1 triumph over Vanderbilt, the No. 1 seed. The feature match pitted the Longhorns' senior Cole Hammer, a two-time Walker Cupper, against Vanderbilt freshman Gordon Sargent, who claimed medalist honors on Monday with a birdie on the first hole of a four-man playoff. Sargent followed that with a 3&1 victory over Baard Skogen in the quarterfinals. That was the point that got the Commodores across the finish line in their 3-2 victory over No. 8 seed Texas Tech. 

Bur Sargent's winning streak -- and Vanderbilt's -- ended Tuesday afternoon. Sargent led for only one hole, after he won the fifth hole (205 yards, par 3) with a par. Hammer leveled the match with a par at the 348-yard, par-4 sixth. Another par at the 188-yard, par-3 eighth gave Hammer a lead that he never relinquished on the way to a 4&3 victory. 

Vanderbilt was part of a three-way tie for first with Oklahoma and North Carolina in the 72-hole stroke-play portion of the tournament. The Waves got the No. 1 seed because the total of the scores they threw out (teams counted four of five scores for each round) were better than the scores that Oklahoma and North Carolina threw out.

North Carolina ended up as the No. 3 seed, and the defending champs from Pepperdine got the No. 6 seed. 

In their match Tuesday morning Pepperdine's Dylan Menante overcame North Carolina's Ryan Burnett in 19 holes, and Joey Vrzich got another point for the Waves. The Tar Heels got points from David Ford and Austin Greaser to make it 2-all. Hitchner's match against Ryan Gerard was also tied after 13 holes, but Hitchner won the 14th hole (430 yards, par 4) with a birdie, and the par-3 16th (173 yard) with another birdie. He then halved the par-4 17th and secured a 2&1 victory. 

There was a lot of back and forth in the semifinal between ASU, the No. 7 seed, and Pepperdine. In the first match out, the Waves' Menante turned a 1-down deficit into a 2-up lead by winning the 13th, 14th and 15th holes. But ASU's Mason Anderson won the 16th and 17th with birdies, and he wound up winning on the 19th hole. 

The second match had an even more violent turn. ASU's Preston Summerhays went on a birdie binge and won six holes in a row to establish a 5-up lead after 10 holes, only to see Joe Highsmith come back to level the match after 16 holes. Undaunted, Summerhays birdied the 17th and the 520-yard, par-4 18th and emerged with a 2-up victory.

David Puig led for the last 13 holes, and gave ASU its third point, 2&1 over Vrzich. The point that Pepperdine was counting on pretty much from the start came from William Mouw, who grabbed the lead from James Leow and the fourth hole and went on to win 3&2.

Hitchner, a former Minnesota state high school champion from Blake, took a 1-up lead over Sisk twice in the front nine, but Sisk evened things both times, first with a birdie at the par-3 fifth, and then with a par at the ninth. He pulled ahead with a birdie at the 650-yard, par-4 11th, and he made another impressive birdie at the 230-yard, par-3 13th. The two seniors then parred the next four holes, and that was that. 


Men's NCAA Division I ChChampionships

At Grayhawk Golf Club

Par 70, 7,289 yards

Scottsdale, Ariz. 

Match Play

Quarterfinals

No. 1 Vanderbilt def. No. 8 Texas Tech 3-2

No. 7 Arizona State def. No. 2 Oklahoma 3-2

No. 6 Pepperdine def. No. 3 North Carolina 3-2

-- Dylan Menante, P, def. Ryan Burnett, NC, 19 holes

-- David Ford, NC, def. Joe Highsmith, P, 1 up

-- Joey Vrzich, P, def. Peter Fountain, NC, 3-2

-- Austin Greaser, NC, def. William Mouw, P, 2&1

-- Derek Hitchner, P, def. Ryan Gerard, NC, 2&1

No. 4 Texas def. No. 5 Oklahoma State 3-2


Semifinals

No. 4 Texas def. No. 1 Vanderbilt 3-1-1

No. 7 Arizona State def. No. 6 Pepperdine 4-1

-- Mason Anderson, ASU, def. Dylan Menante, P, 19 holes

-- Preson Summerhays, ASU, def. Joe Highsmith, P, 2 up

-- David Puig, ASU, def. Joey Vrzich, P, 2&1

-- William Mouw, P, def. James Leow, ASU, 3&2

-- Cameron Sisk, ASU, def. Derek Hitchner, P, 2&1


Stroke Play

Final results (top 8 teams advanced to match play)

T1. Vanderbilt                     282-282-281-289--1134 

T1. Oklahoma                     287-275-277-294--1134

T1. North Carolina              288-281-280-285--1134

4. Texas                               291-291-278-277--1137

5. Oklahoma State               289-277-277-298--1141

6. Pepperdine                      294-282-277--293--1146

7. Arizona State                   290-292-277--289--1148

8. Texas Tech                       297-287-285-284 --1153

Failed to advance 

9. Arkansas                           294-286-286-293--1159

T10. Auburn                          285-296-288-291--1160

T10. Florida                           300-285-286-289--1160

T12. Georgia                          291-292-289-299--1171

T12. Georgia Tech                  298-289-290-294--1171

14. Ole Miss                           297-287-293-300--1177

15. Oregon                              2875-300-291-306--1182

Missed 54-hole team cut -- 877

16. Texas A&M                        300-287-292--879

17. Kansas                              286-297-297--880

18. Stanford                             295-290-297--882

T19. Arizona                            386-306-291--883

T19. Wake Forest                    303-285-295--883

T21. Florida State                    291-300-296--887

T21. Brigham Young                295-302-290--887

23. Ohio State                          300-300-293--893

24. North Florida                      306-298-291--895

25. Georgia Southern              295-305-297--897

26. Liberty                                290-303-305--898

27. Utah                                   297-311-296--904

28. South Florida                     297-311-296--904

29. East Tennessee State        297-308-306--911

30. College of Charleston         305-313-295--913

Individuals 

1. Gordon Sargent, Vanderbilt      70-68-68-74--280

T2. Ryan Burnett, North Carolina  71-69-70-70--280

T2. Parker Coody, Texas               72-70-68-70--280

T2. E. Lopez-Chacarra, Okla. St.   73-70-65-72--290

T5. Chris Gotterup, Oklahoma        73-66-68-74--281

T5. David Ford, North Carolina       71-70-69-71--281

T5. William Mouw, Pepperdine       71-70-70-70--281

T5. Cameron Sisk, Arizona State    70-73-68-70--281

9. Fernandez De Oliveira, Arkansas  71-71-68-72--282

10. Sam Bennett, Texas A&M            77-70-72-64--283 (playing as an individual)

T25. Derek Hitchner, Pepperdine    76-67-71-74--288

Missed individual cut 

Ben Sigel, Kansas                             74-74-77--225