Ventura edges Vaqueros by 3 shots in WSC No. 2

Ventura College shot 392 on a blustery Monday to edge SBCC by three strokes and capture WSC No. 2 at the Alisal Ranch Course in Solvang.

The Pirates had a 1-2 finish with Mason Teron taking medalist honors at 2-over 74 and Nick Burns shooting 76. SBCC's Brant Schenk shot 77 and tied for third with Tom Sims of Canyons.

"I started at No. 3 and it was playing dead into the wind," said Schenk, a sophomore from Santa Cruz. "I hit a full 3-iron, then 4-iron onto the green and made par. Then I just kept it going with 4 straight pars.

"I hit my driver pretty well. My irons were causing trouble because with the wind, it's really hard to judge how far they were going. I had one birdie today when I chipped in on 18."

SBCC took three of the top six spots with Theo Andre-Fouet and Gabe Cloquet adding 78s to tie for fifth. Skyler Booth, a freshman from San Marcos High, tied for seventh at 79.

The course was still wet from the rains and players were allowed to "lift, clean & place" on every shot. Swirling winds made things more difficult.

"The grass was still muddy," Schenk noted. "You could have a perfect lie but if you hit behind the ball a millimeter, you were going to mis-hit it. The greens were rolling fast."

Schenk said this year's team is solid with lots of talent and depth.

"This is the best team I've ever been on and we're going be hard to beat," he stated. "We have four guys who played on the 2017 team and have been in the program for three years. I think we can make a run at the state title."

SBCC is first in the nine-team WSC standings at 15-1, followed closely by Ventura (14-2) and Canyons (13-3). The Vaqueros are enjoying one of their best starts ever with a 39-2 overall record.

"I thought we'd play better today and it was a little disappointing," said SBCC coach Chuck Melendez. "We've seen this course more than anybody.

"It was doable today and we just didn't get it done. The conditions were challenging but it was the same for everybody."

The Vaqueros will compete in WSC No. 3 on Monday at River Ridge GC in Oxnard with a 10 a.m. shotgun start.

WSC No. 2
At par-72 Alisal Ranch
Final scores
 Team -- 1, Ventura 392. 2, SBCC 395. 3, Canyons 398. 4, Bakersfield 420. 5, Glendale 437. 6, Hancock 439. 7, Antelope Valley 452. 8, Citrus 481. 9, Victor Valley, no score.
 Medalist (par 72) -- 1, Mason Teron, Ventura, 74. 2, Nick Burns, Ventura, 76. 3 (tie), Brant Schenk, SBCC, 77; Tom Sims, Ventura, 77. 5 (tie), Theo Andre-Fouet, SBCC, 78; Gabe Cloquet, SBCC, 78.
 SBCC scores  -- 3 (tie), Schenk 77. 5 (tie),  Andre-Fouet 78; Cloquet 78. 7 (tie), Skyler Booth 79. JB Jandro 83, Trent Caraher 90.
 WSC standings -- 1, SBCC 15-1. 2, Ventura 14-2. 3, Canyons 13-3. 4 (tie), Glendale 9-7, Bakersfield 9-7. 6, Hancock 6-10. 7, Antelope Valley 4-12. 8, Citrus 1-15. 9, Victor Valley 0-16.
 SBCC overall record -- 39-2.