Oklahoma golf: Sooners lose to Pepperdine in East Lake Cup finals
By Chip Rouse
The men’s Oklahoma golf team completed its fall schedule finishing second in the prized East Lake Cup.
The top-seeded Sooners fell 4-1 to No. 2 Pepperdine in the match-play championship Wednesday at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia.
This is the sixth year of the East Lake Club, which features the top four men’s and women’s teams in college golf.
Oklahoma fell behind early against Pepperdine, which finished the 2019-20 season ranked No. 1 in the country, and wasn’t able to make up the lost ground. The Waves are currently ranked No. 2 by Golfweek.
Senior Jonathan Brightwell, who transferred to OU from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, posted the lone Sooner victory, beating Pepperdine’s No. 1 player, William Mouw, two-and-one.
"“We didn’t have our best stuff today,” said Sooner coach Ryan Hybl in a press release posted on the OU athletic website, “but give all the credit to Pepperdine for getting the job done and not giving us any wiggle room.”"
Brightwell tied for fourth in the stroke-play portion of the tournament on Monday, helping the Sooners earn the No. 1 seed heading into two days of match play. His
His OU teammate, Patrick Welch, captured medalist honors in Monday’s stroke play, shooting a five-under-par 67. That was his first collegiate victory. Welch was defeated five-and-four in the opening match of the championship round.
The Sooners finished the fall portion of the 2020-21 collegiate golf season with two individual medalists (Logan McAllister at the Big 12 Colonial Preview and Welch at the East Lake Cup), a team title (Big 12 Preview) and three top-five finishes.