Men’s Golf Finishes Second in CVC Tournament

The Fresno City College Men’s golf team moved up in the ranks after placing second in the fifth Central Valley Conference golf tournament of the season at Fig Garden Golf Course on March 13.

The Rams finished the tournament run with a combined team score of 381, just 18 strokes behind first place Reedley College, which scored 368.

The Rams headed into the tournament with top finishes in conference and open invitation tournaments, with two tournament medal winning performances by Cody Avia and Daniel Cliff. The Rams have three returners from last season.

Rams head coach Jenine Paniccia Klein said this event is a sign that the team is moving in the right direction. Despite not finishing first, Klein said her squad’s performance attests to how talented players can close the gaps in close matches.

“We did well in this match. We had more depth on this team especially in the fifth and sixth spots,” Klein said. “We were able to come in and score par, limiting the amount of strokes that we used to take.”

He said the team still needs to work on its “short game to win matches heading forward.”

Golf is more of an individual sport than a team sport. Sophomore John Cook scored 77, one of the lowest scores in the tournament.

Cook played his best match this season but said he knows there are parts in his game that need to be worked on, especially to overtake Reedley for the conference title.

“I felt confident about my game, especially my driving accuracy,” Cook said. “But I do have some kinks in my short game, and that is what I need to fix.”

Cook said that despite not coming in first,  the match was beneficial to the team.

“We played on our home course and got to see how far we came from the start of the season till now,” he said. “We are trying to overtake Reedley and, looking at this match moving forward, we are not far behind.”