MICHAEL BEARD GOLF CAMPS

PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS × MALIBU, CALIFORNIA

About The Counselors

Michael Beard

The 2020 National Coach of the Year and the head coach of the 2021 NCAA champions, Michael Beard has restored the Pepperdine men’s golf program to elite status and has the Waves poised for postseason success for years to come. He begins his 10th season as head coach in 2021-22.

Beard, a five-time West Coast Conference Coach of the Year and a two-time GCAA West Region Coach of the Year, took the Waves to the pinnacle in 2021 when Pepperdine captured its first national championship since 1997.

During his tenure, the Waves have won 16 tournaments and had 16 medalists, which includes four WCC team titles and four WCC individual champions. Seven different Waves have been named All-Americans, and Sahith Theegala was the unanimous National Player of the Year in 2020, winning the Fred Haskins, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus awards.

With Beard in charge, there have been 25 All-WCC honors (19 on the first team) and 13 WCC All-Academic recipients (nine on the first team).

Under Beard, the Waves have posted 10 of the top 11 18-hole team scores in program history, and the program’s seven-best 54-hole scores. He’s coached eight of the top-10 players in career scoring average at Pepperdine.

Pepperdine has made six consecutive NCAA Regional trips since 2015 and has made it to the NCAA finals three times.

The Waves won their program-record sixth tournament of the season at the 2021 NCAA Championships, held at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. Pepperdine came in third place in stroke play to advance to match play for the first time in program history. The Waves beat the three highest-ranked teams in the country – Florida State, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma – to win the title.

The year prior, Beard guided the Waves to the nation’s #1 ranking in both the Bushnell Golfweek coaches poll and by Golfstat when the 2019-20 season was canceled in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After leading the Waves to three team titles over the course of the season, Beard received the Dave Williams Award as the Division I coach of the year (he was also a finalist for the award in 2021).

At the NCAA Championships under Beard, the Waves also finished 13th in 2017 and 11th in 2019. Both were the best finishes since 2004.

Beard’s first tournament title as head coach came at the 2015 WCC Championships, as the Waves rallied to edge Pacific by three strokes at Saticoy Country Club. That qualified Pepperdine for its first NCAA Regional appearance since 2011. He won another WCC title in 2018 at Carlton Oaks Golf Club, then picked up back-to-back titles in 2019 at the Reserve at Spanos Park.

He was rewarded with WCC Coach of the Year honors in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 (no award was given in 2020). He’s the only WCC men’s golf coach ever to earn the award in as many as three consecutive seasons. He received the GCAA’s West Region Coach of the Year award in 2020 and 2021.

Chris Zambri

After two years as the volunteer assistant coach, Chris Zambri was promoted to associate head coach of the Pepperdine men’s golf program ahead of the 2022-23 season.

As volunteer assistant, Zambri helped the Waves win the national championship in 2021 and reach the NCAA semifinals in 2022.

The head coach at USC from 2006-07 to 2009-10, Zambri took the Trojans to the finals of the NCAA Championships 12 out of a possible 13 times. Over his 14-year tenure, the Trojans won 33 events, including three conference titles (2007, 2011, 2018) and three NCAA Regional titles (2008, 2012, 2017). His 2015 squad was the runner-up at the NCAA Championships, and they made the semifinals in 2016 and the quarterfinals in 2017. Seven different golfers earned GCAA All-American first, second or third team honors a total of 13 times during his time there.

Zambri received the Dave Williams Award as the National Coach of the Year in 2008 by the Golf Coaches Association of America, and was the Pac-10 Coach of the Year that season as well. In his first season, he coached Jamie Lovemark to the 2007 NCAA individual championship. Lovemark earned the Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Fred Haskins and Phil Mickelson awards that season.

He was the head coach of the victorious United States squad at the 2010 Palmer Cup.

Zambri played for six years (1997-2004) on the Nationwide Tour and was an active teaching professional when he was not competing. He finished as high as 19th on the circuit’s money list in 1998. He competed in four PGA Tour events as well as the 1995 and 1999 U.S. Opens.

A 1993 USC graduate who played for the Trojans from 1989-93, Zambri was a two-time All-Pac-10 second team selection in 1991 and 1993.

Zambri and his wife Kim have three children: Wyatt, Joseph and Laney.

SUMMER DAy Camps COMING SOON

Tentative Schedule (9am-3PM)

9AM- Campus Tour

10:30PM- Skill Instruction

12:15PM- Lunch and Q&A

1:30PM- Game Analysis and Skill Instruction

Entry is $200 per camper: Fee includes lunch and facility usage. Pepperdine Apparel and Gear will be available for purchase through the team store (cash and check only), Please bring payment on camp day - cash or check.

Michael Beard Golf Camps are open to all male entrants in Grades 7-12 at the camp start date. Our camps comply with new NCAA Legislation regarding camps and campus tours. Each camp is only restricted by a maximum number of 3 participants - as required by the host club and facility.