Gauchos second at Tijeras Creek

The Saddleback men's golf team finished in second place at the Orange Empire Conference event at Tijeras Creek Golf Club on Monday in Rancho Santa Margarita.  Cole Griffo led the charge with a round of 73.

With only three events remaining heading into Monday, Saddleback knew they were going to need to make a charge if they were going to qualify for the upcoming Southern California Regional Playoffs.  The Gauchos got off to a good start by finishing second on Monday and moving within one game of third place in the OEC standings. 

Saddleback took its home course knowing it had a big advantage on the 7,023-yard layout.  The Gauchos responded by shooting a score of 390 on a day when scores were high.  Griffo had the round of the day for Saddleback, shooting a 1-over-par round of 73 to finish in a tie for second place in individual medalist play.  He was +3 heading into the 17th hole before making birdies at both 17 and 18 to finish +1. 

Griffo started the day in sixth place overall in the race for the individual conference title and his round on Monday moved him all the way up to third in the standings after the top two guys heading into the event shot 82 and 79, respectively.   Griffo is five shots back of Cypress' Dalton Davenport and two shots back of Orange Coast's Myoung Kim heading into the final two rounds.

Saddleback also received a boost from freshman Spencer Allen, who shot his third best round of the year with a 5-over-par round of 77.  Closely behind Griffo and Allen was fellow freshman Kevin An, who also posted his third best round of the year at 78.

Saddleback is now one game behind both Riverside City College and Mt. San Antonio College with two rounds remaining on the Orange Empire Conference schedule.  The teams now move to the OEC Finals, which features 36 holes of golf at Los Serranos Golf Club next Monday.  The opening round is played on the par-74 South Course in the morning to be followed with the par-72 North Course in the afternoon. 

TEAM SCORES: