Pirates make it five OEC titles in a row!
CHINO -- For the fifth straight year, the Orange Coast College men's golf team wraps up the 2014 regular season on top of the mountain.
Fighting off a determined Santiago Canyon team, the Pirates made it five straight Orange Empire Conference championships in a row as they edged the Hawks in Monday's two-round OEC finals, played at Los Serranos Country Club.
Coast (50-10 in conference matches) entered Monday's matches with a one-victory lead over SCC (49-11), but a strong opening round by the Hawks pulled them even with Coast with one afternoon round left to play.
Santiago Canyon came out shooting for the flags right from the opening group and carded a team total of 18-under-par, 352 on the par-74 South Course. Coast, which shot a very respectable 2-under, 368, finished second, putting both teams tied for the OEC lead heading into the final round.
On the par-72 North Course, the Pirates continued their strong play and edged out the Hawks with a 1-over-par 361, three shots better than the Hawks' score of 364. That win gave Coast the one-match win and the OEC title for the fifth consecutive year.
Marc Reyes led the Pirates in both rounds on Monday. He carded a 5-under-par, 69 in the morning and followed that up with the lowest round of the afternoon -- a 7-under 65.
Zach Olson (73-73) fired an even-par 146 for the two rounds, while Michael Chen (75-75) and Zach Eddy (78-72) each carded 4-over 150s for the Pirates.
Other two-round scores for Coast included Zac Lauderdale (75-76-151) and Jem Young (76-76, 152).
Up next for the Pirates will be the Southern California Regional Championships, which is a two-round competition set for StoneRidge Country Club in Poway on Monday, beginning at 7:30 a.m. OCC is the defending SoCal Regional champions after edging out College of the Canyons at Costa Mesa Country Club in 2013.
