Pepperdine Got Chipper Off the Block

While caddying for his father Al at a Senior PGA Tour event more than eight years ago, John Geiberger met a nervous 11-year-old caddying for his dad, Frank Beard, for the first time. During the tournament, Geiberger coached Michael Beard on the rules and etiquette of being a tour caddie.

Geiberger is still coaching Beard today. But the goal is much bigger than teaching caddying etiquette.

Beard, now a freshman at Pepperdine, was a prep All-American at Palm Desert High, and one of the most sought-after golfers in the country. The friendship with Geiberger that grew on a Seattle golf course in 1991 led him to Pepperdine, where the coach is . . . Geiberger.

“Knowing John helped me with my decision to go to Pepperdine,” Beard said. “Because of his background, I knew that he knew what was going on with golf.

“And I trust him more than other coaches.”

It also helped that his dad was a fan of Geiberger and Pepperdine.

“As I went through the recruiting process, he just stepped back and let it happen,” Michael said. “But he told me after I made up my mind he thought Pepperdine was the right place.

“But we pretty much knew from the start I was going there.”

Said Geiberger, “His mom liked and trusted me. They let him make his own decision, but they said they liked Pepperdine.”

The friendship between the Beards and Geibergers actually began on the PGA Tour with Frank and Al. They have been friends for more than 30 years.

John Geiberger went to high school with Michael Beard’s older sister in 1997, and Michael played with one of John’s younger brothers in high school.

“There are a bunch of little connections that have kept us close,” said Geiberger, who coached the Waves to the national championship in 1997. “Michael almost feels like my younger brother.”

He must have felt like Beard’s older brother back on that golf course in Seattle.

“He was a red-haired, freckled-faced kid that looked a little intimidated,” Geiberger said. “I showed him things like where to stand. He didn’t know how to put the caddie bib on.”

Beard’s strongest memory of his days as a caddie actually involves Geiberger rescuing him from one his most embarrassing moments.

“In Cincinnati, I was caddying for my dad when I was 13,” Beard said. “I was backing up the golf cart and hit another one. I couldn’t get the carts apart, and John and Al came and got me out.”

But Beard’s days as a wet-behind-the-ears caddie are far behind him. He’s already the Waves’ best player, leading them in scoring average (73.44) and being their leading finisher twice in six tournaments.

Now it is Geiberger, as Pepperdine’s coach, who in a way serves as Beard’s caddie, and he likes what he’s seen.

“He’s got all the tools,” Geiberger said. “He’s already got the thought process that people start developing once they’re out of college.

“I see him as one of the best players in college [as a senior].”

And from there, Beard wants to join the PGA Tour. Whether Geiberger will be his caddie there remains to be seen.

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In its biggest victory of the season, the fifth-ranked UCLA men’s tennis team breezed past Illinois, 4-1, Sunday to win the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships at Seattle.

It was the toughest team tournament in the nation this year, boasting 12 of the 13 top ranked teams.

The Bruins’ victory avenged last year’s loss to Illinois in the tournament and was sealed when No. 14 Jean-Noel Grinda defeated No. 7 Oliver Freelove, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (4).

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The Pepperdine women’s swimming team finished third and Loyola Marymount 10th in a field of 15 at the Pacific Collegiate Swimming Conference Championships earlier this month. The Waves were led by sophomore Andrea Trufasu, who was named PCSC swimmer of the year for the second consecutive time. She set conference records in the 100-meter freestyle, and the 400- and 800-meter freestyles.

Loyola Marymount swimmers set five school records at the meet.

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The USC and UCLA women’s swimming teams will compete in this weekend’s Pac-10 Championships at Federal Way, Wash. In the final dual meet for both teams, the fifth-ranked Trojans (6-2) defeated the 17th-ranked Bruins (6-4-1), 109-91.

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The third-ranked Long Beach State men’s volleyball team is 9-0 overall and 7-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Tenth-ranked USC is in second in the Pacific Division, and No. 2 UCLA is 9-1 in the MPSF Mountain Division, half a game behind first pace BYU and half a game ahead of third-place Pepperdine.

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The UCLA women’s gymnastics team won its eighth consecutive UCLA Invitational last weekend, defeating Arizona, Cal State Fullerton and Florida. The 11th-ranked Bruins are now 10-4 overall and 3-2 in the Pac-10.

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Freshman tennis player Andrew Park of USC lost to Alex Clatrava of Spain, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, Monday in the first round of the ATP Challenger at Laguna Hills. . . . The USC women’s water polo team earned its first No. 1 ranking after winning the recent UC San Diego tournament.