Tigers Take Third at SCIAC Championships
MOORPARK, Calif. (April 27, 2009) – For the first time in the history of the golf program, Occidental College shot a one-under par, 287, on the opening 18-holes of the 36-hole Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championships at Tierra Rejada Country Club this morning. The Tigers came back on the second 18 to shoot a 297 for an overall third place finish at the event.
Despite placing among the top-two at one SCIAC event and top-three a trio of times, the Tigers finished the season fourth overall in what is known as one of the premier golf conferences in the nation at the Division III level. Occidental has shown vast improvements all season and look to continue the uphill climb as they return all golfers for the 2010 campaign.
On a day that began cool and overcast and turned windy in the afternoon, Oxy was paced by freshman Sam Weiss who was tied for first place (138) after 36 holes. Weiss and SCIAC Player of the Year, Mitch Fedorka from the University of La Verne, were six-under par and needed a sudden death to determine a winner. After both players pared the first sudden death hole, Weiss had to take a lateral penalty stroke which led to an epic 250-yard shot out of some rough. That drive came within 20 feet of the hole and gave Weiss a chance to save par. Unfortunately for the freshman Tiger, Fedorka proved why he was Conference champion and the No. 1 ranked player in the country when he drained a 15-foot birdie putt to win it all, giving Weiss a respectable second place finish.
Fellow freshman Andrew Larkin played a solid day of golf, with a 71 on the first 18-holes and a 74 in the afternoon to place seventh with a total performance of 145. A third first year student, Miles Cole finished 13th overall with a combined 149. Ryan Ferguson, a sophomore, finished with 156 strokes as the fourth scoring Tiger.
After a wonderful round of 73 in the morning, junior captain Richard Highsmith struggled in the afternoon which was unusual for the normally consistent player.
Occidental finished with 584 total strokes as a team.
