Roaring winds couldn’t stop the men’s golf team as it managed to clench third place at the Cresta Verde golf course in Corona Monday.
The course, which was designed in the 1920s by Randolf Scott, was somewhat difficult for the team due to the strong winds.
Although it’s not a very long course, it has a lot of up and down shots with many hills for the team to climb.
If that weren’t enough of a challenge for the team, the wind was gusting at up to 45 miles an hour.
“The scores were higher than normal,” coach Terry Titus said. “The course is set up pretty easy, but the wind was strong, it was really tough yesterday,” Titus said.
The next match will be March 28 at Diamond Valley in Hemet.
The lowest scoring player for the Warriors was Sylvester Sion, shooting five over par for a score of 75.
“I started off really well, but as the day progressed, I lost it a little bit,” Sion said.
Without trying to make excuses for his performance, Sion is well aware of why he shot higher than usual.
“You have to learn (in windy conditions) to hit different shots. Stuff that you’re not really used to,” Sion said.
Marc Kawasoe followed with a score of 80.
Jason Campbell and Kalen Moore tied for third, shooting 78.
Andrew Pulaski shot an 84 going 14 over par.
“We beat the College of the Desert, which is one of our toughest competitors,” Kawasoe said.
Long Beach won the match with a score of 377, Mt. San Antonio College followed, scoring 389.
EC was third with 395, College of the Desert had a score of 396, Mt. San Jacinto had a score of 402, Rio Hondo scored 406 and Victor Valley had a 415.
Although the team played well at Monday’s match, remains in fifth place overall.
“We’re only a couple of points behind Rio Hondo, so between the fourth and fifth place spot, it’s very close,” Titus said.
The team placed fifth with a score of 395 at the SCGA match last Wednesday.
Kalen Moore was the leading scorer for that match, shooting four over par for a score of 76.
Marc Kawasoe shot 77 going five over par.
Jason Campbell shot 80 for eight over par.
Ben Arraya and Sylvester Sion both shot 81 for a combined nine over par.
Long Beach and College of the Desert tied for first with a score of 385.
Mt SAC placed in third with 379. Rio Hondo had 391 and Mt. San Jacinto had 401.
“We still have our own golf course to play, which will be somewhat of an advantage for us,” Titus said.
“Diamond Valley, I think. will be a fairly neutral site for us,” Titus said. “We’ll have played the course as much as any other of the teams.”
For Titus, the possibilities of winning the upcoming matches are more than good.
Titus is very confident that the team will rise to the occation.
“I think we’ve got a chance of playing well the next few events and pulling ourselves up even more in the standings,” Titus said.
The team is also waiting for the next match and isn’t worried with the standings.
“I’m looking forward to the match,” Sion said. “I look forward to every match, no matter where we play.”
As each match goes along, the team expects to improve its game.
“We’ll definetly do better during our match next week,” Titus said.
