Pirates extend lead atop OEC standings
CORONA -- The Orange Coast College men's golf team put some breathing room between itself and the rest of the Orange Empire Conference with a solid performance on Wednesday at Green River Golf Club.
The Pirates shot a 363 to win the OEC event by two strokes over Palomar (365) and four shots over Cuyamaca (367). Riverside (369), Cypress (375), Santiago Canyon (375), Saddleback and Irvine Valley (399) round out the rest of the team scores.
With the 7-0 performance, Coast's overall conference record is 43-13 with the two-round, OEC Championships on April 29 at 7 a.m. over at Los Serranos Golf Club to complete the regular season. Santiago Canyon, which finished 2-5 on Wednesday, is now nine games back at 34-22, while Cypress and Palomar are both 31-25.
Michael Chen picked a good time for his best round of the season after leading the field with a 3-under-par 69 for the Pirates. Riley Murphy and David Pelekoudas were close behind Chen after they each fired a 1-under 71. Kyle Melchiorre carded a 75, Marcus Mercado-Kiel shot a 77 and Kyle Pollema came in with a 79 to complete OCC's scoring.
The Pirates are looking for their fourth straight Orange Empire Conference title in a row.
