(Whittier, CA) After a third-place finish in the Orange Empire Conference Match No. 2 Wednesday (2/27), the Mt. SAC Men's Golf Team remains in first place in the Orange Empire Conference. It's the first time since the program was reformed two years ago that the Mounties sit atop the standings

The Mounties are tied with Orange Coast College with an 8-2 record, while Cypress is at 7-3 in third. Saddleback is in fourth with a 3-7 record, followed by Riverside City College and Irvine Valley College with 2-8 records.

Mt. SAC got off to a 5-0 start at the first OEC event last week at Royal Vista, which was followed by a third-place finish at the Par-70 Candlewood Country Club in Whittier, with three wins and two losses in the six-team conference.

Cypress, which hosted the match, was 5-0 with a low score of 361, followed by OCC with a 388 and Mt. SAC shooting 391 as a team.

"I am proud of the team for their effort," Mt. SAC Men's Golf Team third-year coach Greg Osbourne said.

Leading the way for the Mounties was freshman Blake Copeland, who carded a 73. That was followed by a 77 from Chu-Wen (Felix) Tsui.

Copeland is third in conference in scoring average after two events with a 73.5.

"The rest of the team struggled on the Candlewood course," Osbourne added.

Joshua Song shot a 79, followed by Hanseop Lee (80), Julio Ibarra (82) and Cameron Smith (83)

The Mountie golfers will compete in the CCCAA Southern California Regional Preview Monday (3/11) at the Los Serranos Country Club (South) at Chino Hills. The event will be hosted by Irvine Valley College.

OEC match No. 3 will be March 18 at the Tustin Ranch Golf Course hosted by Irvine Valley College.

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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.