Canyons wins fifth straight WSC event, five scoring players finish top-six

OJAI — College of the Canyons cruised to its fifth straight conference victory while seeing all five scoring players finish in the top six of the individual standings during its strong showing at Soule Park Golf Course on Monday.

Canyons (86-6) carded a five-man score of 358 to win the event by a 26-stroke margin over runner-up Santa Barbara City College (384). Ventura College (384) was third after a card-off followed by Glendale College (391) and Citrus (399) across the top five spots.

The Cougars continue to lead the Western State Conference (WSC) standings heading into next week's conference championships.

COC sophomore Ethan Posthumus claimed tourney medalist honors for the third straight week and fourth time this season with his three-under-par round of 69. Posthumus has also finished second in a pair of events and currently leads the season-long individual conference standings.

That score placed him two strokes ahead of teammates Carson Diaz and Ed Beehag who tied for runner-up status with rounds of 71.

Ryan Giardino was next at 73, good for a tie in fourth place and Owen Crockett rounded out the scoring with his day finishing at 74, placing him sixth overall.

Jacques Struyf ranked 22nd with his score of 79, which was eventually dropped from the final team tally.

The Cougars conclude the regular season at the 36-hole WSC Championships being played Monday, April 28, at Crystalaire Country Club in Llano. 

Canyons, the defending 3C2A State Champions, will be swinging for a 14th straight WSC title with an eye on advancing to the 3C2A Southern California Regional being played May 4-5.

Qualifiers from the SoCal Regional event will then advance to the 3C2A State Championships May 11-12, at Bayonet & Black Horse Golf Course in Seaside.

TEAM SCORES
1. Canyons (358) 2. Santa Barbara (384) 3. Ventura (384) 4. Glendale (391) 5. Citrus (399) 6. Antelope Valley (419) 7. Allan Hancock (421) 8. Bakersfield (422)

CANYONS INDIVIDUAL SCORES 
Ethan Posthumus (69 - medalist); Carson Diaz (71 – T2nd); Ed Beehag (71 – T2nd); Ryan Giardino (73-T4th); Owen Crockett (74-6th); Jacques Struyf (79-22nd)

FIELD TOP-30 SCORES
1 - 69 – Ethan Posthumus (COC)
T2 - 71 – Carson Diaz (COC); Ed Beehag (COC)
T4 - 73 – Ryan Giardino (COC); Brandon Flores (VC)
6 - 74 – Owen Crockett (COC)
T7 - 75 – Matt Munro (SBCC); Daniel Darwin (VC); Nick Gutierrez (GCC); Javier Alvarado (CIT)
T11 - 76 – Kellen Willmore (SBCC); Carter Gauthier (CIT); Ethan Phillips (AVC)
T14 - 77 – Pady Blinderman (SBCC); Nick Bublitz (VC); Ian Chapital (VC); Nico Mendoza (AHC)
T18 - 78 – Vicente Rodriguez (SBCC); Hugo de Mollerat (SBCC); Kyle Gordon (GCC); Justin Huitink (GCC)
22 - 79 – Jacques Struyf (COC)
T23- 80 – Theo Lohrer (SBCC); Gavin Loughran (GCC); Jaxson Allen (GCC)
T26 - 81 – Andrew Gahshan (CIT); Carson Ireland (AVC); Luke Dickenson (BC); Vincent Van Fossen (BC)
T30 - 82 – Matthew Fisher (VC); Logan Gonzalez (VC)

(Jesse Munoz, College of the Canyons Athletics)