College of the Canyons stormed out to an eight-stroke lead on day one of the 3C2A State Championship Tournament at Bayonet Golf Course in Seaside, Calif. on Sunday, May 11, with sophomore Ethan Posthumus carding six birdies to lead the individual field.

Canyons, already the defending state champions, leads the nine-team field with a five-man score of 376 on the par-72, 6,940-yard course. The Cougars also saw three players finish in the top-14 of the individual standings.

Reedley College (384), San Joaquin Delta College (391), Ventura College (391) and Orange Coast College (395) joined COC across the top five spots. Reedley was led by two players in the top-seven spots.

College of the Desert (397), Santa Barbara City College (398), Sierra College (403) and Modesto College (406) were next in the team standings.

Players were forced to deal with wind-driven, foggy conditions throughout the opening round with just two players finishing under par for the day. Posthumus tied with Tommy Evans of Reedley College with a two-under-par score of 70 to lead the field of 68 entered players.

COC sophomore Carson Diaz was next for the Cougars, tying for third with a one-over round of 73. That score equaled the tally of Lawernce Pepito from Napa Valley College.

Ed Beehag and Anthony Nilson both shot rounds of 77 to finish in seven-way tie for 14th place.

Owen Crockett was the final scoring player for Canyon with his round of 79, tying him for 29th. Jacques Struyf also competed but had his score of 83 scratched from the COC team tally.

Second round action got underway at 8:30 a.m. Monday, May 12, with the forecast again calling for chilly conditions with a chance of rain.

TEAM SCORES
1. Canyons (376); 2. Reedley (384) T3. San Jaquin Delta (391) T3. Ventura (391) 5. Orange Coast (395) 6. Desert (397) 7. SBCC (398) 8. Sierra (403) 9. Modesto (406)

CANYONS INDIVIDUAL SCORES
Ethan Posthumus (70 – 1st); Carson Diaz (73 – T3rd); Ed Beehag (77 – T14th); Anthony Nilson (77 – T14th); Owen Crockett (79 – T29th); Jacques Struyf (83 – T54th)

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by visiting COCAthletics.com and on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.