Vaqueros capture Southern Cal Preview; Manzone fires 69

Manny Manzone fired a 3-under 69 on Monday and three SBCC teammates were also under par, guiding the Vaqueros to their second straight men's golf victory. The Vaqueros shot a season-low of 3-under 357 to top the 18-team field in the prestigious Southern Cal Preview at Olivas Links GC in Ventura.

"This is a good course for us, we shot 361 in a recent practice round here," noted SBCC coach Chuck Melendez. "This team is extremely motivated to do well and we're starting to gain momentum. Our guys are very engaged and have their sights set very high."

Jonny Hogan, Brett Patton and Jaren McCartney all shot 1-under 71s for the Vaqueros, who totaled 357 to beat Santiago Canyon by four shots and Orange Coast and Canyons #2 by nine.

The Vaqueros' strong performance at Olivas Links bodes well for the future with two events being held at the course later in the year -- WSC No. 9 on April 20 and the 36-hole Southern Cal Championships on May 4.

SBCC shaved 10 strokes off its previous best round and improved its overall record to 67-6. Eric Cross of Riverside was the medalist at 7-under 65.

Manzone, a freshman from Moraga, Calif., tied for fourth but he wasn't feeling well when he arrived at the course.

"He was a little sick at the start, so we got him soup instead of a sandwich," said Melendez. "He started out birdie, birdie and I don't know if it was the soup or what. He's starting to figure out his driver and his putting keeps getting better."

Hogan has shot par or better in all eight rounds this year, thanks to a 4-under-par effort on the back nine. He double-bogeyed the first hole and was 3-over at the turn. "Jonny sank a lot of long putts to save par," said Melendez.

The Vaqueros will seek their third straight title on Monday in WSC No. 5 at Antelope Valley Country Club.

Southern Cal Previw
At par-72 Olivas Links GC
 Team -- 1, SBCC 357 (3 under). 2, Santiago Canyon 361. 3 (tie), Orange Coast, Canyons-2 366. 5, Riverside 367. 6, Canyons-1 371. 7, Ventura 378. 8, Glendale 381. 9, Desert 383. 10 (tie), Palomar, Saddleback, Cypress 392. 13, Irvine Valley 394. 14, Antelope Valley 399. 15, Mt. San Jacinto 400. 16, Bakersfield 405. 17, Hancock 406. 18, El Camino 407.
 Individual – 1, Eric Cross, Riverside, 65. 2, Byron Busse, Santiago Canyon, 67. 3, Zach Eddy, Orange Coast, 68. 4 (tie), Manny Manzone, SBCC, 69; Eric Kim, Canyons, 69.
 SBCC scores – 4, Manzone 69, Jonny Hogan 71, Brett Patton 71, Jaren McCartney 71, Joakim Flinck 75, Jake Ledbetter 75.