Santiago Canyon College's Connor Covington Win's State Championship
The weather for the California Community College men’s golf state championship held Monday at the Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont was supposed to be sunny and warm with temperatures in the high 70’s. Instead, the weather was cool, cloudy and overcast and the only thing in the high 70’s was the early golf scores.
BEAUMONT, CA - The weather for the California Community College men's golf state championship held Monday at the Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont was supposed to be sunny and warm with temperatures in the high 70's. Instead, the weather was cool, cloudy and overcast and the only thing in the high 70's was the early golf scores.
However, West Hills College out of Lemoore was able to post enough scores in the low 70's to overcome a two-stroke deficit to win the college's first state title with a five-man, 36-hole score of 745 to slip past Chabot College (751) and Cypress College (754).
Cypress held a one stroke lead over Chabot after the morning rounds were completed (372-373) with West Hills another stroke back at 374 as 17 players in the field of 60 couldn't break 80 in the morning drizzle and chilly temperatures. Only five players were able to finish under par, including three players who had late-morning tee times.
Cypress still held a lead with one player from each team still out on the course, needing a 74 from its final player to secure a state title for the Chargers. However, Cypress' final player posted an 85 in the afternoon round while West Hills' John Smith posted a 1-under-par 71 to secure the title for the Golden Eagles.
Steve Tarkon led West Hills with a score of 143 (72-71) while Smith (77-71) and Cole Neal (74-74) each carded a 148. Chabot's Dane Jensen shot a 3-under-par 69 in the afternoon for the best round of the day to post a total of 141 (72-69) while Greg Atkinson added a 147 (73-74) for the Gladiators. Cypress, which was also seeking its first men's golf state title, saw Scott Sexton post a 1-under-par 71 in the afternoon for a 145 total (74-71) while Nick Garrett (74-74) carded a 148 and Mike O'Neill (77-72) added a 149.
The weather may have had some influence on the projected leaders as last week's Northern California individual champion, Scott Gregory of Chabot College, ended up tied for 28th at the state championship with a 155 (77-78) and the Northern California runner-up, Max Brazil of Santa Rosa Junior College, ended up tied for 37th with a 156 (76-80). Last week's Southern California individual champion, Nick Paez of Riverside Community College, faired much better as he finished fifth overall with a 2-under-par 142 (72-70) to earn all-state honors. The Southern California runner-up, Paul Misko of Ventura, finished fourth at the state tournament just one stroke off the pace with a 3-under-par 141 (70-71).
The state's individual champion was Connor Covington of Santiago Canyon College who barely made the state tournament field to begin with. Covington was the final individual from Southern California to make the field, finishing in a four-way tie for 12th place at last week's regional finals and needing a card-off to earn the state tournament berth. He made the most of his opportunity by posting a 4-under-par score of 140 (70-70) and using another card-off to earn medalist honors and wrestle the gold medal away from Palomar College's Sejun Yoon who also posted twin 70's.
Covington, Yoon, Jensen, Misko, Paez, and Caleb Malcolm of Riverside each earned all-state honors, with Malcolm finishing at 2-under-par 142 (70-72).