Glendale Community College men’s golf team takes third at Oakmont
GLENDALE — After recording a third-place finish Monday in a Western State Conference home match, the members of the Glendale Community College men’s golf team immediately began to look ahead to the conference final.
Glendale college had four players crack the 70s to finish with a 385 on Monday at fabled Oakmont Country Club.
PHOTOS: Glendale Community College men’s golf in Western State Conference match
While Glendale Coach Greg Osbourne would have liked to have seen the Vaqueros win on their home course for the third season in a row, Monday’s placement left the Vaqueros knowing what they will need to accomplish at the 36-hole conference tournament on Monday at Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai.
“This means everything next week,” Osbourne said. “If we can do next week what we did [Monday], then we will be in good shape.
“I’m proud with the way we played. We have a lot of first-year players and they are starting to turn things around. It would have been nice to have won or even taken second on our home course. Overall, I’m happy with the result.”
Glendale and Ventura came into Monday’s match tied for third place. The top three teams from conference automatically advance to the Southern California Regionals, which will be held May 6 at Los Lagos Costa Mesa Golf and Country Club.
Glendale topped Ventura by five strokes at Oakmont to take sole possession of third place and put it on the doorstep of qualifying for the postseason. College of the Canyons and Santa Barbara City College have locked up first- and second place, respectively. The Vaqueros need to finish ahead of the rest of their conference competition in both rounds next week to clinch a postseason trip.
Canyons won Monday’s seven-team event with a 365, followed by Santa Barbara (372). Bakersfield and Allan Hancock registered 396s, but Bakersfield grabbed the fifth spot by virtue of its sixth scorer shooting seven strokes better. Citrus was seventh with a 401.
Tavit Garabedian paced Glendale with a three-over-par 74.
Garabedian, a freshman, regrouped late in his round after encountering trouble near the midway mark. He double-bogeyed the 11th hole before bogeying the 12th. He then birdied the 13th before parring his remaining six holes in the shotgun format.
“I just knew that I had to make something happen,” Garabedian said. “I was able to get up and down on my last five or six holes.
“I feel like I’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season. I’ve also had a good short game going the last couple of matches.”
McCauley Taylor finished with a 76 for the Vaqueros, who got 77s from Win Kyaw and Ryan Miranda and an 81 from Jin Park.
Taylor said he was satisfied with his round.
“I was two-under through my first eight holes and then I had some bogeys,” Taylor said. “I’m happy with the way things turned out, shooting in the 70s on a tough course.
“We know that next week will be a marathon. If we play the way we should, then we will move on.”
Sidney Wolf and Jack Katz of Canyons shared medalist honors with 70s.
