Pirates finish fourth at CCCAA Men's Golf Championships
RANCHO MIRAGE -- The Orange Coast College men's golf team capped off a tremendous 2016 season by finishing fourth overall at the 2016 California Community College Athletic Association Men's Golf State Championships on Monday at the Desert Island Golf and Country Club.
Coast, which won the 2016 Orange Empire Conference title and advanced to the state finals with a fourth-place finish at the Southern California Regionals, carded a two-round team score of 765. Reedley College won the title with a team score of 745, while College of the Canyons (751) and College of the Desert (754) rounded out the top three. Fellow OEC foe Santiago Canyon (773) finished fifth, followed by Santa Rosa (774), Monterey Peninsula (788) and Folsom Lake (789).
The Desert Island Golf and Country Club brought out the best in each competitor. Out of the 40 total rounds of golf played on Monday, players finished under par in only eight of those rounds.
In particular, the greens and the pin placements were described by coaches throughout the event as "diabolical", "humbling" and "treacherous", but OCC head coach Sean Collins believed it was the perfect surroundings for a state championship.
"I thought the course and the day was absolutely perfect," Collins said. "The had to compete and they did just that. As a team, we achieved our goals this year by winning conference and making it to state. Sure, we wanted to win it all, but to be a part of something like that, I truly believe it will be an experience they all will never forget. It was a great season for a great team."
One of those eight sub-par rounds was turned in by OCC freshman Austin Briggs, who took on the 6,716-yard course and finished his opening round with a 1-under-par, 71. After starting the front nine with a 1-over 37, Briggs came out strong on the back-nine and went par-birdie-par-birdie over the next four holes. After a bogey on the 14th, Briggs bounced back and finished his round with a birdie and three pars for a 34.
OCC's lone sophomore, Connor Hurst, capped off is Coast career with the team's lowest two-round score of the event, shooting a 77 and a 74 for a two-round total of 151. Briggs was second on the Pirates with a 153, followed by Jeremy Dorff (154), Justin Collins (154), Marcus De La Rosa (157) and Jordan Meas (165).
Hurst finished 12th overall with his 151, while College of the Canyons' Ben Campbell won the individual championship with a 71-71, 142.
