College of the Canyons takes 3C2A Men's Golf Championship; Sierra's Ostrom is individual champ

Complete Results l Photos

GOLETA – The College of the Canyons Cougars returned to the top of the men’s golf mountain after edging out defending champion, Reedley College on Monday at the 3C2A Men’s Golf Championship at Sandpiper Golf Club, hosted by Santa Barbara City College at beautiful Sandpiper Golf Course.

The Cougars made it state championship No. 11 in their storied career after shooting a team score of 751, just eight shots clear of Reedley (759) for the top spot in the state. Santa Barbara City enjoyed the home turf and earned a third-place showing with a 769, followed by Napa (773), Fresno (773), Cuyamaca (775), Sierra (778) and Cypress (779).

“This has been a group of kids who have struggled all year to make the lineup and when you go through struggles like that throughout the year, it prepares you for postseason events like this,” Canyons head coach Gary Peterson said. “These guys learned how to overcome adversity on the golf course … being able to score when you’re not playing well, dealing with disappointments, falling out of the starting lineup … it was a struggle for guys, but you know what? That’s what golf is.

“We’ve had some great teams here at Canyons, but these guys might be a hair above the rest. This group had more rounds of golf at, or below par, than any team we’ve ever had here.”

The Cougars’ attack was led by Paul Grimonpon and Owen Crocket, who each added to that list of “par-or-better” rounds on Monday. Crockett carded a 1-under par, 71, while Grimonpon was close behind with an even-par 72 and both finished the two-day event with a 2-over-par 146. One shot off of that two-day pace was teammate Hugo Boyer (72-75-147), while Ethan Posthunus (77-76-153) and Hannes Yngve (76-83-159) helped add to the steady depth that brought the Cougars the 2024 title.

Individual state champion honors went to Sierra College’s Kyler Ostrom, who shot a 2-under-par 70 on Monday to go with his 2-over 74 on Sunday for a total of even-par, 144. Napa Valley’s Markus Nanpei equaled Ostrom’s 144 with back-to-back 72s, but Ostrom won the individual title on a card-off tiebreaker.

“This weekend I really wanted to be aggressive out there and I think that was the difference for me,” Ostrom said. “These holes can get in your head a bit, but if you hit fairways and think offensive, you can get things done. I made a couple of bogeys early on, but I told myself, ‘You can get them back.’ I knew there were birdies out there that could be made and I was fortunate enough to get that done.”

After no pars under round on Sunday, the colored pens went to work on the scorecards on Monday with four rounds under 72. Leading the way on Monday was Riverside City College’s Bingcheng Zheng, who carded a 3-under-par, 69 for the low round of the event.

Cheng joined Ostrom, Nanpei, Crocket, Fresno’s Giuseppe Aliotti and Orange Coast College’s Tiger Tahvildari for this year’s All-State Team for their top-six performances (following card-off tiebreakers).

(Tony Altobelli, CCCSIA)