Albert Corral and Cameron Tennant shared the first-round lead with 3-under-par 69s on Monday and SBCC led wire-to-wire en route to capturing the Southern Cal Regional men’s golf title at the SCGA Mermbers’ Club in Murrieta.
Corral, a sophomore from San Marcos High, took fifth at 1-under 143 while Tennant (69-77) and Jesse Ferris (72-74) tied for ninth at 146. Nick Paez of Riverside and Paul Misko of Ventura were the medalists at 2-under 142.
The Vaqueros shot 10-over 370 in the first round and 374 in the afternoon round for a 744 total that was five shots better than Orange Coast and nine ahead of Riverside. Cypress (755) was the fourth and final qualifier for next Monday’s State Championships, which will take place at Oak Valley GC in Beaumont.
There were 10 teams in the field, including WSC champion Canyons, which finished fifth at 759, four shy of the last qualifying berth. Ventura, the WSC runner-up, placed sixth.
SBCC came on strong in its final matches to finish third in the WSC.
“It was a total team effort,” said SBCC coach Chuck Melendez. “I’m extremely proud of these guys. They showed a great deal of heart and it was really nice to see them put it together at the right time.
“If we have a similar performance next week, we’ll have a good shot to win the state title.”
Southern Regional
At par-72 SCGA Members’ Club, Murrieta
Team Scores (top 4 qualify for State Finals) — 1, SBCC 744. 2, Orange Coast 749. 3, Riverside 753. 4, Cypress 755. 5, Canyons 759. 6, Ventura 761. 7, Desert 766. 8, Mt. SAC 781. 9, Santiago Canyon 793. 10, El Camino 803.
Medalist — Nick Paez, Riverside; Paul Misko, Ventura, 142.
SBCC scores — 5, Albert Corral 69-74–143. 9 (tie), Cameron Tennant 69-77–146, Jesse Ferris 72-74–146. 40, Mike Levine 83-73–156. 47, Andy Clayton 81-76–157. 66, Ross Martin 79-83–162.
