Gauchos hang tough at Costa Mesa

The Saddleback men's golf team finished in fourth place in Orange Empire Conference play on Wednesday at Costa Mesa Country Club.  The Gauchos finished just four shots off the lead.

Saddleback has been in a bit of a slump since winning the SoCal Preview nearly a month ago in Oceanside.  The Gauchos broke out of their slump on Wednesday, finishing just a shade off the lead in a match hosted by Orange Coast.  The Gauchos had a team score of 378, just one shot back of both Cypress and Orange Coast and four shots back of Riverside.

Austin Briggs led the way, firing a 1-over-par round of 73 on the 6,589-yard layout.  He finished tied for third overall in individual play and three shots off the lead set by Riverside's Everett Najera.  Briggs now sits in a tie for 10th place overall in the Orange Empire Conference play with a 75.2 scoring average.

Briggs was joined by Jackson Blogg (74), Chris Reck (77), Kirk Edmondson (77), Maxwell Hooites-Meursing (77) and Alex Fedecky (79) as all six Gauchos shot in the 70's. 

Saddleback will play next at Oak Creek Golf Course next Wednesday.