The Mt. San Antonio College men's golf team climbed to the top of the Orange Empire Conference standings this week after winning last week's conference match at Victoria Country Club in Riverside and finishing second to Orange Coast at this week's match on the Costa Mesa Country Club's Los Lagos course.
Mountie sophomore Josh Song (pictured) has proven to be the difference in the climb to the top, dropping 11 strokes off his previous score to post a 4-under-par 68 at Victoria to earn medalist honors. He improved that mark this week when he posted an 8-under-par 64 to earn medalist honors on the Costa Mesa Country Club course.
The Mounties posted a team score of 360 at Victoria to edge out Orange Coast (364) while Cypress finished third (376) and Saddleback ended up fourth (377). Felix Tsui added a 2-under-par 70 at Victoria to help the Mounties while Blake Copeland (73), Han Lee (74), and Julio Ibarra (75) were all chasing par. Orange Coast was paced by Myoung Kim (69) and Connor O'Hern (71) while Cypress saw David Marris card a 73. Saddleback's run at a top three finish ended up a stroke shy despite solid rounds from Chase Bosanko (70) and Cole Griffo (72).
Defending state champion Cypress dropped out of the lead in the conference standings this week after placing third at Costa Mesa. Despite a team score of 364, the Chargers could not catch an Orange Coast team which posted a sub-par team score of 347 or Mt. San Antonio's 354. Orange Coast had a red-letter day with all six players posting scores under par. The Pirates throw-out score to arrive at a team total would be a 1-under-par 71 as O'Hern posted a 5-under-par 67 and Bryce Sheridan added a 3-under-par 69. Tyler Thurmond and Kim would add 70's to the team total.
In addition to Song's 64, Mt. San Antonio enjoyed Han Lee's first sub-par round of the year, a 5-under-par 67. Copeland added another 73 to help the Mounties' scoring. Cypress would receive a 67 from Marris and a 1-under-par 71 from Dalton Davenport to ensure a third place finish at this week's event. Saddleback (382) would finish fourth despite a 3-under-par 69 from Griffo.
April 1 at Costa Mesa CC (par 72):
Orange Coast - 347
Mt. San Antonio - 354
Cypress - 364
Saddleback - 382
Riverside - 390
Irvine Valley - 393
Medalists: 64 - Josh Song (MSAC); 67 - Han Lee (MSAC), David Marris (CYP), Connor O'Hern (OCC); 69 - Cole Griffo (SADD), Bryce Sheridan (OCC).