Pepperdine women defend Golfweek Red Sky title

Pepperdine is on a roll that dates to April. The Waves have won five of their last six starts, with the latest victory coming in familiar territory.

The Golfweek Red Sky Challenge is the team’s second start this fall and second win. In Pepperdine’s title defense at the scenic layout, nestled into the mountains at more than 8,000 feet in Wolcott, Colo., and its fifth victory here overall in the tournament’s 13-year history, the Waves were even par for 54 holes to edge New Mexico State by 10 shots.

“We love playing at beautiful Red Sky and are excited to start the season with two double-digit wins,” head coach Laurie Gibbs said.

Pepperdine’s core of Lion Higo, Kaleiya Romero, Lauren Gomez and Jeneath Wong all finished in the top 12 at Red Sky. KaYee Kwok brought in a T-32 finish. Familiarity is at work in many ways as Pepperdine, which was ranked No. 15 in Golfweek’s preseason rankings, continues to find its way to the top of leaderboards.

A year ago at Red Sky, Gibbs predicted that it could be an exciting year for the Waves. That was before Wong, a talented Australian player, joined the team. She finished in the top 10 four times in the spring.

After winning the West Coast Conference Championship and the NCAA San Antonio Regional, Pepperdine made national championship match play, losing a close quarterfinal match against top-seeded Stanford.

A year ago when Pepperdine won this tournament, the Waves went 18 under to do so. Only UCLA had ever gone lower in event history, reaching 32 under to win in 2018. Next year, the Golfweek Red Sky Challenge field will return to 20 teams, and with the .500 rule debuting in women’s golf, more top-25 teams could find their way to the mountains.

Red Sky is a tricky yet rewarding venue and bared its teeth this week with the help of slick, smooth greens and weather conditions.

“The course was in great shape and greens were rolling at 12.5,” Gibbs said. “The winds picked up mid-round today and hitting greens got to be challenging. Being above the hole on a downhill putt was difficult.”

The challenge makes Alison Gastelum, a New Mexico State senior, like Red Sky that much more. Gastelum won the individual title at 7 under after a final-round 68.

“Just (where) it is and how it plays is definitely unique in comparison to a lot of other courses,” she said. “It was definitely more challenging this year than I remember too. The greens were fast,…