For the second year in a row and the 12th time in team history, the College of the Canyons Cougars remain on top of the men’s golf mountain after a two-round performance at the 3C2A Men’s Golf State Championships on Sunday and Monday, May 11-12, at the Bayonet Golf Course.

With a 36-hole tournament that yielded just two rounds under par, the Cougars managed to overcome not only an elite field and championship-caliber golf course, but Mother Nature from the Monterey Bay.

COC shot a team score of 762 (376-386) to win the state title, just three shots ahead of back-to-back state runner-up, Reedley College, which carded a two-day team score of 765 (384-381). San Joaquin Delta finished third with a 784 (391-393), followed by Santa Barbara City (398-387-785), Ventura (391-397-788), College of the Desert (397-393-790), Orange Coast (395-403-798), Modesto (406-396-802) and Sierra (403-405-808).

Much like day one, the Cougars earned the top spot with a steady diet of pars and no “blow-up” holes as the squad carded scores ranging from 75-79 throughout the lineup. Carson Diaz tied for the low-score of the tournament (along with Reedley’s Tommy Evans) with a 73-75-148, followed by Ethan Posthumus (70-79-149), Ed Beehag (77-77-154), Anthony Nilson (77-78-155), Owen Crockett (79-78-157) and Jacques Struyf (83-78-161).

When asked the key to the Cougars’ string of success, volunteer assistant coach Gary Peterson said after his team won the fourth state men’s golf title over the past five seasons: “Love. Kids have a good time at Canyons, they’re successful and word gets around and players want to come play here. I love this job, I love the kids … it’s not even a job for me.”

Reedley played the low team round of day two with a 381, led by Johan Bjorken’s 73 on Monday for a two-round total of 153. With the help of his day one 70, Evans led the Tigers with a 70-78-148. Other top Tiger scores included Julian Rombouts (76-78-154), Brady Foster (80-76-156), Eliot Vidal (81-76-157) and Coaton Campbell (78-82-160).

Third place went to San Joaquin Delta with a two-day total of 784. Leading the way for the Mustangs was Jakob Green with a 77-76-153, followed by Luke Hyland (77-77-154), Jake Hyland (79-76-155), Seth Fuhrman (81-76-157) and Sanke Napier (77-88-165). Eli Kruppa shot an opening-round of 86, while Mason Davis carded a day two round of 89.

On the individual side of things, Diaz and Evans needed extra holes to determine the State Champion, Diaz needed a bogey on the first hole to earn the individual title.

“Trying to win as a team was the main goal, but I was able to play pretty well so it all worked out,” Diaz said. “I think the key for me was that I was able to hit a lot of greens this weekend, which was really important. The wind out there made it tough to judge, but I think I was able to judge it well for these two rounds.”

Complete Tournament Results

For more information visit COCAthletics.com.