Vaqueros shoot season-best 373 and still finish second in WSC No. 3

Three SBCC players shot season lows on Monday and the Vaqueros recorded a season-best 373 but still came up short in WSC No. 3 at their home course, the Alisal Ranch in Solvang.

Preston Gomersall and Igor Haenel tied for second with even-par 72s and Matt Pate tied for fifth at 73 after shooting a 3-under 33 on the front nine. Blake Bornand shot a season-best 77 and Isaac Stone added a 79, giving the Vaqueros five players between 72 and 79, and lowering their best team score by 15 strokes.

Haenel shot a career-low 72 and Pate fired a season-low 73 with a 20-foot birdie putt from the fringe of the par-3 ninth green.

Canyons, the defending state champion, also shot a season-best 366 to win by seven shots. Jules Lavigne, the Cougars' sophomore star from France, was the medalist at 1-under 71. Canyons had players shoot 71, 72 and 73 to go along with two 75s. Their individual average was 73.2 strokes compared to the Vaqueros' 74.6.

"Canyons is a tough foe," said SBCC coach Chuck Melendez. "This was a confidence booster, we just have to learn how to finish stronger. The conditions were great today and I know we can still do better.

"We have a lot of room for improvement and we'll have to get better and better to have a chance against Canyons."

The Cougars lead the WSC at 21-0. Ventura is second at 17-4, one game ahead of Santa Barbara (16-5).

The Vaqueros will return to the links on Wednesday in the Cuyamaca Classic at Singing Hills Golf Resort at Sycuan in El Cajon. Tee off is set for 8:30 a.m.

WSC No. 3
At par-72 Alisal Ranch Course
 Team -- 1, Canyons 366. 2, SBCC 373. 3, Ventura 395. 4, Antelope Valley 407. 5, Glendale 410. 6, Bakersfield 412. 7, Citrus 438. 8, Hancock 440
 Medalist -- 1, Jules Lavigne, Canyons, 71. 2 (tie), Preston Gomersall, SBCC, 72; Igor Haenel, SBCC, 72; Hugo Amsallem, Canyons, 72. 5 (tie), Matt Pate, SBCC, 73; Matty Wilson, Canyons, 73. 7 (tie), Felix Schrott, Canyons, 75; Shuya Hagiwara, Canyons, 75.
 SBCC scores -- 2 (tie), Gomersall 72, Haenel 72. 5 (tie), Pate 73. 13, Blake Bornand 77. 15 (tie), Isaac Stone 79. Preston Foy 84.
 WSC standings -- 1, Canyons 21-0. 2, Ventura 17-4. 3, SBCC 16-5. 4, Antelope Valley 11-10. 5, Glendale 8-13. 6, Bakersfield 7-14. 7, Hancock 3-18. 8, Citrus 1-20.
 SBCC overall record -- 37-16.



Blake Bornand blasts out of a greenside bunker on the 1st hole. Bornand shot a season-low 77
to finish 13th in a field of 48 players. (Photo by Ken Sciallo/Sevilla Photography)