Canyons Wins WSC Championship for Seventh Straight Year
The conference championship is the program’s 22nd overall. COC freshman Will Barnett earned WSC Player of the Year Honors, while Jaeyeol Kim and Matt Cheng were both named All-WSC.
The College of the Canyons men's golf team has been crowned champion of the Western State Conference (WSC) for a seventh consecutive year, after finishing the regular season with six straight tournament wins.
The conference championship is the program's 22nd overall. Since 1998, Canyons has won the WSC title nearly every year, with the exception of a two-year drought from 2008 to 2009.
On Monday, the Cougars played 36-holes at Rio Bravo Country Club in Bakersfield to turn in a score of 759 on the day. The mark was 20 strokes better than second place Ventura College.
COC freshman Will Barnett led the way once again, putting together rounds of 72 and 75, en route to earning WSC Player of the Year honors. Barnett's score of 147 on the day was just one stroke short of the tourney lead, which went to Tyler Bliss of Citrus College.
Ben Campbell finished in the tourney's fourth place spot at 150 (74/76) for the Cougars and Jaeyeol Kim was sixth at 151 (74/77).
Jason McGuinness ranked 10th on the day with his score of 154 (80/74).
Matt Cheng shot an opening round score of 78, but had his second round of 81 scratched. Likewise, Ricardo Torres shot a non-scoring round of 84 in the morning, before coming back with a 79 later in the afternoon.
Trailing COC in the WSC final standings were second place Ventura College and third place Santa Barbara City College.
Individually, Barnett finished the season with 813 total strokes through nine events, including the 36-hole WSC Championship, to rank first in the conference.
Kim, who earned All-WSC First Team honors, was not far behind in the conference's third place spot.
Cheng also earned an All-WSC First Team nod after finishing fifth overall in the conference.
COC head coach Gary Peterson was named WSC Coach of the Year.
Canyons will next compete in the CCCAA SoCal Regional Championships on May 9, at Bear Creek Golf Club in Murrieta.
The 2016 CCCAA State Championships will then be held Monday, May 16, at Desert Island Golf and Country Club in Rancho Mirage.