Men’s golf completes West Cup at Goose Creek, Tigers head to SCIAC #2 at Cal Lutheran this weekend

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Author: Alex Nieves

In what was their final non-conference competition before heading back into SCIAC play, the Occidental College men’s golf team traveled to Mira Loma, Calif. to play in the West Cup at Goose Creek Golf Course.

While the Tigers did not fare well in the overall team standings, the team showed improvement from their last three-round tournament, knocking 28 strokes off their score from the Cal State San Marcos Invite. On the individual side, Occidental was able to boast a few notable performances as Ari Reiger (junior) and Jeremy Klein (first-year) both posted career-best rounds.

Reiger started off the tournament strong, finishing his first round with a personal best score of 73. Reiger continued to play well through the second round, posting a 75 but dipped slightly in his final round with a 79. Despite the tough final round, Occidental head coach Andrew Larkin was very pleased with Reiger’s performance.

“[Reiger’s] 36 [hole] day was phenomenal,” Larkin said. “The 73-75 was a very good way to open the tournament, and while he didn’t play great in the second day, to finish the event with three rounds in the 70s is great.”

For Klein, the tournament did not start as planned as he posted scores of 77 and 83 on the first day of play. The Occidental newcomer was not discouraged, however, as Klein was able to finish his third round with a 73. Klein’s performance on the course did not go unnoticed by his teammates, as afterwords, they had high praises for his play.

“[Klein] played very well on the final day,” Reiger said. “I think that should give him a lot of confidence going forward.”

Klein finished the tournament 20-over, good enough for a 61st place tie with fellow Tiger Rammi Hazzaa (senior). While not his best overall performance, Hazzaa was able to break 80 for all three rounds, opening with a 79 and finishing with a pair of 77s.

Mason Atkins (sophomore) competed in his first tournament of 2013, tallying rounds of 83, 82 and 85. Kevin Liu (first-year), the final member of the five-man squad, did not have his best two days of play, finishing in 85th place, but did shoot an 81 in the first round.

With the West Cup wrapped up, the Tigers now turn their attention to the second SCIAC competition. This match should be a big test for all of the team’s golfers as it will be played at the notoriously difficult La Purisima Golf Course. While this does not seem to bode well for a team that has yet to catch their stride, Larkin feels confident that the course will actually give his players a chance to make up ground on the rest of the conference.

“The course we’re going to is a monster,” Larkin said. “For us it should be a very good equalizer… this course is hard enough that all teams are going to fall back.”

The men’s team will be joined by the women’s squad at La Purisima on April 6-7 for SCIAC #2 hosted by Cal Lutheran before both teams finish up with SCIAC Championships April 27-29.

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