Author: Alex Nieves
The Occidental College men’s and women’s golf teams had to scratch their way to the finish, but in the end, both teams completed SCIAC #2 with strong individual performances.
The Tigers joined the rest of the SCIAC teams for the final tournament of the year before heading to the conference championship at the end of April. The tournament, hosted by Cal Lutheran at the La Purisima Golf Course, was a daunting challenge for just about every player in the field. The course is ranked as one of the hardest in the country and put constant pressure on all the golfers. Low scores were few and far between with the winner on the men’s side shooting 5-over par and on the women’s side, 21-over.
Despite the extremely difficult course, Kristin Oberiano (first-year) came up big for the Tigers, notching the first top three finish of her Occidental career. Oberiano, who has consistently improved her finishes throughout the season, shot an opening round of 82 that placed her on top of the leader board at the end of the first day. Although she could not hold onto the lead through the second day, Oberiano still shot an 85 and finished in third, just two strokes behind the winner. After the tournament, head coach Andrew Larkin expressed confidence in Oberiano’s play.
“[Oberiano] showed a lot of ability and some great ball striking,” Larkin said. “I think this will be just the first of many tournaments that [Oberiano] is in contention to win.”
Oberiano was not the only women’s golfer to end the tournament with a high finish, with Katie Park (junior) also breaking into the top ten. Although Park did not have her best two rounds of the season, shooting a 93 and a 87, she was able to fight off a majority of the field and finish in a tie for eighth place.
On the men’s side, Rammi Hazzaa (senior) led the way for the Tigers, finishing in 13th place. Hazzaa opened the tournament with an 80, putting him in tenth place after the first day. Although he dropped a few places after day two, Hazzaa stayed consistent, shooting an 82.
For the rest of the men’s and women’s squads, SCIAC #2 proved to be a struggle.
Jeremy Klein (first-year) was the second highest finisher for the men, finishing 38th with a two round score of 31-over. Ari Rieger (sophomore) finished 39th, Mason Atkins (sophomore) 43rd and Kevin Liu (freshman) and Andrew Garrison (first-year) finished 44th and 46th, respectively.
Hana Mizuno (first-year) and Ella Inman (first-year) wrapped up the scoring for the women’s team, finishing in 24th and 26th place, respectively.
Although the overall team scores were not where Larkin hopes they will be in the SCIAC Championship, the coach was happy with the way his players handled the various challenges over the two days.
“For many of the players this was their first test of a true championship golf course,” Larkin said. “Playing a course like this, ranked as one of America’s top 25 hardest courses, helped to push our players.”
The Tigers are hoping that this tournament can be used as an experience builder as they prepare for the biggest test of their season, the SCIAC Championship.
Both Occidental squads have a three week break before they hit the course on April 27-29 for the SCIAC Championship at Oak Valley Golf Course.
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