Glendale Community College men’s golf takes third at Oakmont
GLENDALE — With its fast greens, inviting fairways and occasional wind currents that sweep through, it’s possible Oakmont Country Club could be the most challenging course the men’s golf teams from the Western State Conference will play this season.
That’s the summation given by Glendale Community College coach Todd Tyni, whose team hosted the conference’s ninth tournament of the season Monday at the venue that’s closing in on 100 years old.
Tyni must have liked what he saw from Glendale, which shot a 391 to finish third in Monday’s event to equal its best finish in a conference match this season.
“I really believe it’s the most difficult course you’ll see in our conference,” said Tyni, who took over the program in 2014. “You have the fast greens with a lot of breaks from side to side. You could see that with nobody shooting under par today.
“It’s a long course that’s in great shape and you just have to play your way through. I thought we did that as a team and I’m happy with our result.”
Santa Barbara finished first in the nine-team event with a 381, followed by College of the Canyons, the defending conference champion, at 387. Ventura took fourth (405), followed by Bakersfield (408), Antelope Valley (434) and Citrus (468). Victor Valley and Allan Hancock didn’t score because each team didn’t have enough players to field a full squad.
JB Jandro of Santa Barbara and Anguerrand Voisin of Canyons tied for first with three-over-par 74s.
Glendale was led by sophomore Scott Schuster, who carded a 76 in the field that consisted of 48 participants.
“It got a little bit windy out there, but that’s to be expected,” Schuster said. “It was a little tough in the beginning and then I had a one-under-35 on the front nine.
“I just got dialed in the rest of the way. It’s good to get third because it definitely shows what you can do. We just have to put it all together from a talent standpoint.”
Max Kinsel (La Cañada High) had a 77 for Glendale, which received 78s from Peter Kim (Crescenta Valley) and Angelo Keklikian. James Huh (Crescenta Valley) carded an 82 for the Vaqueros, who tied for third in a conference match on March 18 at Antelope Valley Country Club in Palmdale.
Canyons, Santa Barbara and Ventura have sewed up the first three spots in conference and have qualified for the Southern California Regionals. Glendale will look to lock up the fourth spot in its attempt to receive an at-large berth into the postseason.
The 36-hole conference tournament will be held Monday at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai. Should Glendale finish above the teams trailing it, then it would qualify.
“I hope what we were able to do today will build our confidence level going into the conference finals,” Tyni said.
The Southern California Regionals will take place May 5 at Los Serranos Golf Club in Chino Hills. The California Community College Athletic Assn. State Championship will be held May 12-13 at Silverado Spa and Resort in Napa.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
