Teeing Up Third in SCIAC Opener
PASADENA, Calif.(Feb. 17, 2009) – For the first time of the spring the golf teams from the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference met on the course. Occidental finished third behind a trio of freshman who led the team to their best conference finish in more than a decade.
Leading the way for the Tigers was junior captain and All-SCIAC golfer Richard Highsmith who shot a 35 on the front nine before posting a 40 on the back nine to total a 75, three strokes over par, as did freshman Miles Cole. In his first SCIAC match he opened with a 38 and followed up with a 37 to also finish with a 75.
Among the Top-20 finishers overall were another pair of Oxy freshman, both shooting a 76 on the Par 72 Brookside Country Club Course. Andrew Larkin and Jamey Stambler each lowered their opening 39 with a 37 over the final nine holes to tie for 14th place.
One notable performance came from Larkin who managed to hit 16 greens in regulation, although he struggled with the putter today.
Also appearing in black and orange today were Alex Safransky and Sam Weiss who shot 83 and 84, respectively.
The incoming group of golfers were joined by only one other rookie who finished in the Top-20, showing early improvement for Occidental, who competed with two nationally ranked teams, by Golfworld/Mike Golf Coaches Poll, in the University of La Verne (#13) and the University of Redlands (#11) in the conference opener.
Occidental golfers combined for a score of 302, as five Tigers shot in the 70’s with only La Verne having more (six). ULV won with a combined 292 and UR posted a 295. Following Oxy were Cal Lutheran (303), Pomona-Pitzer (313), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (314) and Whittier College (327).
The Tigers will be back out on the course at Brookside on
Monday, Feb. 23 when they host the Chapman University Panthers at
noon.
