Murata fires season-best 73; Vaqueros take 3rd in WSC No. 7

Tyler Murata shot a season-best 1-over 73 on Monday, Niels Andersen carded a 74 and Michael Nam notched a season-low 76, leading SBCC to a third-place finish in the seventh WSC men's golf tournament at Santa Maria Country Club.

Canyons topped the eight-team field with a 6-over 366 and Ventura was eight strokes back. The Vaqueros finished third at 379 and Citrus was fourth with 388. It was the fourth straight conference win for the Cougars and sixth in seven tournaments.

Canyons tops the WSC standings at 47-2, eight games ahead of Ventura (39-10) and 10 better than SBCC (37-12). Nick Bublitz of Ventura was the medalist at 2-under 70.

All of the Vaqueros shot in the 70s for the first time this year. Manny Manzone finished at 77 and Jake Ledbetter and Lukas Wedsjoe shot 79.

"We wanted to get everyone in the 70s and we did that," said coach Chuck Melendez. "We were a little rusty and this was a real easy course. You had your typical Santa Maria winds of 20 mph.

"I expected us to play a little better. It was nice to see some other guys stepping up today."

The Vaqueros will play in WSC No. 8 on Monday at Oakmont CC in Glendale.

WSC No. 7
At par-72 Santa Maria CC
 Team – 1, Canyons 366. 2, Ventura 374. 3, SBCC 379. 4, Citrus 388. 5, Hancock 403. 6, Antelope Valley 415. 7, Glendale 417. 8, Bakersfield 458.
 Medalist (par 72) – Nick Bublitz, Ventura, 70.
 SBCC scores – Tyler Murata 73, Niels Andersen 74, Michael Nam 76, Manny Manzone 77, Jake Ledbetter 79, Lukas Wedsjoe 79.
 WSC standings – 1, Canyons 47-2. 2, Ventura 39-10. 3, SBCC 37-12. 4, Citrus 29-20. 5, Antelope Valley 18-31. 6, Hancock 17-32. 7, Glendale 9-40. 8, Bakersfield 0-49.