Bobcats qualify for state

For the first time in 13 seasons (14 years) the Saddleback men's golf program has qualified for the state tournament after finishing second in a tiebreaker at the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Southern California Regional Finals on Monday in Ventura.  The Bobcats will play at the CCCAA State Tournament next Monday at Soboba Springs Golf Club in San Jacinto, California.

Saddleback held a one shot lead after the opening 18 holes on Monday, with a handful of programs right on their heels.  One such program was Cypress College, a program that won the state title as recent as 2018.  The Bobcats and Chargers have been battling it out all season long and again went head-to-head on Monday looking for a SoCal title.  In the end, Cypress and Saddleback were tied at the end of 36 holes and the Chargers won the tournament on a card-off when the scoring went to a sixth scorecard. 

Another team in the mix was College of the Canyons, who won the last state title in 2019 before the Coronavirus pandemic wiped out the last two state tournaments.  The Cougars finished one shot back of Saddleback and Cypress in third place on Monday, setting the stage for an epic battle next Monday. 

Saddleback had a number of tremendous rounds on Monday on the par-72 layout at Olivas Links in Ventura.  Arthur Hess shot 67 (-5) in the opening round while Patrick Jaksch had an opening round of 71 (-1).  Denis Watson fired a -2 round of 70 in the afternoon to lead the Bobcats with a 36-hole total of 143 (-1). 

Saddleback and Cypress finished with team scores of 733 while Canyons was at 734.  Ventura College finished fourth with a 36-hole total of 742 to qualify for the state tournament.

This is the first time Saddleback has advanced to the CCCAA State Tournament since 2008 when the team finished second at both the regional finals and state finals.  The last time Saddleback captured a state championship in men's golf was in 2007 after finishing fourth at the regional finals. 

The state tournament will be played at Soboba Springs Golf Club in San Jacinto, California.  The Bobcats played once at Soboba Springs this season, winning in a card-off over Riverside City College with a round of 377.  Cypress shot 381 to finish tied for third in that tournament.

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