Men’s golf battles for fourth at Tijeras
The Saddleback men's golf team finished in fourth place in Orange Empire Conference play at Tijeras Creek Golf Club on Monday afternoon. Alec Martinson led the way for the Gauchos after a near-disastrous start.
Martinson hooked a ball off the first tee out of bounds in making for a tough start to the round, finishing with a double-bogey seven on the opening hole. He was then 4-over through four holes when he started to find his game. Martinson birdied the fifth and then the seventh on a chip-in from off the green, battling back to shoot a team-low, 5-over-par (77) on the 7,003-yard, par-72 layout. Martinson finished tied for 10th in medalist play for the day as the Riverside combo of Chad Hambright and Eric Cross tied for medalist honors with 1-under-par rounds of 71.
Saddleback shot 408 as a team to tie Orange Coast College for fourth place. The Gauchos were 13 shots back of third place Cypress College.
Saddleback will play again on March 16 at Olivas Links in the College of the Canyons Tournament.