COD Men's Golf opened up the 2018 season with a new head coach, Roadrunners coaching veteran Ken Simonds, and a tough tournament, as the team finished 4th against 14 other teams.

The Roadrunners sent six participants to its first event, which was hosted over a two-day period. The Point Conception Open was held at the La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc.

This opening tournament really brought out the heavy hitters, as the top three finishers from the 2017 CCCAA State Finals were represented, the defending state champs, the College of the Canyons Cougars from Santa Clarita, followed by the 2017 runner-up Cypress Chargers and then the third place Ventura Pirates, along with six Western State Conference teams. The Roadrunners were joined by two other Pacific Coast Athletic Conference teams at this event.

Desert would finish with 784 points over the two-day tournament, just 3 strokes back of third place finisher, Ventura.

Sophomore Bobby Kim (South Korea) led the way for the Roadrunners, as he shot a four-over 76 on day one and a three-over 75 on day two, giving him a total of 151.

Sophomore Steven Wang (Taipei (TW) Municipal Nei-Hu Senior) shot an 76 on day one and an 78 on day two, finishing 2nd on the team.

Sophomore Tyler Smith (Palm Desert H.S.) and freshman Joseph Bogaert (Ghent (BE) Sint-Barbara College) both shot a 159 over the two day tournament. Smith shot an 83 on day one and dropped seven-strokes on day two shooting 76 and Bogaert shot a 78 on day one and shot an 81 on day two.

Shooting a 161 for the two-day tournament was sophomore Samuel Berglund (Victoria (AUS) Rowville Secondary College) and freshman Mitchel McComber (Redlands Citrus Valley) shot a 168 to wrap up the two day event for the Roadrunners.

COD will make their next appearance at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills on Monday, February 5 as they begin the Orange Empire Classic.

Photo by Ken Simonds (COD Men's Golf head coach)
Information, Photos & Story provided by COD Sports Information.