Men's Golf Preview: Conference Action Begins March 7

Whittier, CA- Men's Golf Orange Empire Conference competition is set to tee off on Monday, March 7^th. Cypress College will host the first OEC tournament of the season at Candlewood CC (par 70) at 9am.

The ten OEC teams have been split into two divisions this season. The Coastal Division contains Cypress, Cuyamaca, El Camino, Orange Coast and Saddleback. The Inland Division contains College of the Desert, Mt. San Antonio, Mt. San Jacinto, Riverside and Victor Valley. Each division will play five tournaments in their respective sub-division and then the ten schools will combine for five tournaments together including two OEC neutrals, the OEC Conference Finals, SoCal Regionals, and the State Championships at Oak Valley GC.

Mt. San Antonio College is the defending Orange Empire Conference champion as they finished the 2021 season with a record of 57-9. The Mounties also captured the OEC Championship tournament crown with scores of 368 in round 1 and 360 in round two. Bryan Saw of Mt. SAC was the individual champion shooting an average of 73.2 in nine rounds of competition.

Saddleback College has led the way in pre-conference play as they have finished in top four in each of their first four tournaments. The Bobcats opened the season with a 4^th place finish at La Purisima GC followed by two first place finishes at the Eagle Classic and Cuyamaca Classic back to back weeks. Saddleback also participated in the Riverside Invitational on February 28^th where they earned second place after shooting a team score of 385.

Cypress College will be very competitive this season as they secured a first place victory in their season opening tournament at La Purisma GC on January 31^st. Like the Bobcats, Cypress participated in the Eagle Classic, Cuyamaca Classic and Riverside Invitational finishing third, second and fifth. The Chargers are led by freshman Willis Panzarello and Adam Naaman who have both finished as the first place medalist already this season.

Orange Coast College will enter OEC play on a high note as they took home the Riverside Invitational Championship on February 28^th. Cathan Peterson-Cheek turned in a fantastic performance at Victoria CC as he finished as a co-medalist shooting an even-par 72 on the day.

Riverside City College is led by sophomore, Jordan Medlock, who shot an astonishing five under-par (65) in the OEC Championships last season. Medlock notched his first tournament victory of the 2022 season at Soboba Springs GC on February 9^th. Medlock's tournament leading 70 was just enough for Riverside to edge out Saddleback and win the tournament three weeks ago.

The full schedule for the 2022 season can be found here.