Vaqs take 7th in state
GLENDALE — The members of the Glendale Community College men’s golf team didn’t get the result they sought Monday when vying for the program’s first state championship.
However, the Vaqueros might have come away knowing that they might be in good position to return to the prestigious event next season and script a better ending.
After finishing second in the Western State Conference and Southern California Regionals, the Vaqueros competed Monday at the California Community College Championships at Kings Country Club in Hanford.
Things didn’t turned out as planned, as Glendale placed seventh in the eight-team tournament with a 768.
“We gave it our best shot and we just feel terrible that we couldn’t win it,” Glendale Coach Greg Osbourne said. “It’s hard to look at it as just getting there.
“You get to the point where you get so close and you are trying to get it done and not thinking about the next time it might happen. But, I like the season we had.”
Chabot won the 36-hole match with a 754, followed by College of the Desert (756) and Reedley (757).
Glendale college brought the golf program back in 2008 after being dropped in 1985 because of budget cuts. Armed with a strong recruiting class and a top-flight sophomore in Brennan Amirkhizi, the Vaqueros set their goals high. Glendale came on strong in its final two conference matches, thus gaining steam heading to the playoffs for the first time.
Amirkhizi finished tied for 11th with a two-round score of 149. He opened with a one-over-par 73 and then finished with a 76 in the final round. Michael Timpson carded a two-round total of 150 to tie for 15th.
Timpson, a Crescenta Valley High graduate and a reigning All-Area pick, said the Vaqueros came up short.
“It was awesome for us that we could be there,” Timpson said. “We came in pumped up and ready to go.
“We are in shock with how we finished, but we tried our best.”
Vincent Lam of Glendale had a two-round tally of 153 to tie for 30th. Chris Ramirez finished with a 157 to tie for 41st for the Vaqueros, who got a 159 from Chris Ramirez (tie for 46th) and a 160 from Jin Park (tie for 49th).
“We were down 10 strokes after the first round and then we started off the second round great with everybody all being under par,” Osbourne said. “It started to get cold toward the end and there were a lot of bogeys and the little things just didn’t go the way we had hoped for.
“We got some good experience and we will come back with a vengeance. Two years ago, we couldn’t beat anybody in our conference. Now, you get to state and you see it’s a different ballgame.”
Santiago Canyon placed fourth (759), followed by Long Beach City College (763). Folsom Lake was eighth (785).
Andrew Perez of College of the Desert posted a two-round score of 138 to win the individual championship.
