Pirates go low to capture OEC Men's Golf Title

COSTA MESA -- In a season full of low scores, the Orange Coast College men's golf team picked the perfect time for their best performances as the Pirates captured the Orange Empire Conference title on their home course -- Costa Mesa Golf Club -- on Wednesday at the 36-hole OEC Finals.

Out of a combined 12 rounds of golf between the six OCC players, the Pirates carded five rounds of par-or-lower en route to earning 15 wins out of a possible 16 to pull ahead of Cypress College for the all-around OEC title with a record of 75-13. Cypress finished second overall at 72-16, while College of the Desert (71-17) finished third.

"It was a great day on Wednesday and a great season for our guys and I couldn't be prouder," OCC head coach Sean Collins said. "This is one of the deepest, most talented golf seasons I've ever seen throughout the state and to see our guys play their best golf when it mattered most was really special to see. Hopefully we can keep this momentum going at Regionals and earn a trip to the State Championships. It's going to take more special golf like this to keep our season going."

In the morning round, the Pirates shot a team-score of 4-over-par, 364 on the Los Lagos course (par-72), which would normally be a runaway winner on most mornings. But, College of the Desert carded a combined even-par, 360 to take the top spot of Round 1. Mt. San Antonio shot a school-record 364, tying Coast for second (with OCC winning the tiebreaker), followed by Cypress (370), Cuyamaca (372), Riverside (375), Victor Valley (377), Mt. San Jacinto (389) and El Camino (392). 

The conditions were perfect for low scoring and the golfers took advantage of it. 

The depth of the Pirate lineup was evident in the morning round as all six golfers shot 72-75, including Matt Ingram (72), Troy Tarvin (72), Victor Chaparro (73), Nate Rhee (73), Tyler Chapman (74) and Tate Garman (75). In all, 14 golfers shot even-par or better, including Victor Valley's Cory Rose, who show the low morning round ... a 4-under-par, 68.

In the afternoon round, the weather cooled and the winds picked up, making the scoring harder for the field, but apparently nobody told that to the Pirates, who bettered their morning-round total with a combined 5-UNDER-par score of 355. Coast's score was 12 shots better than COD and Cypress, who each carded 367s, followed by Cuyamaca (379), Riverside (380), Mt. SAC (383), Victor Valley (385), Mt. San Jacinto (388) and El Camino (405).

Ingram was on fire for the afternoon round, as he birdied the first two holes and going out in 34 before adding two more birdies on two of the final three holes en route to a back-nine 32 and a final-round score of 6-under-par, 66. Ingram's 66 was the lowest round of the OEC Championships and just one shot off the lowest round shot by any OEC golfer throughout the 2025 season.

On the par-5 18th hole, Ingram missed the fairway right on his tee shot and nearly got into some trouble when his second shot came up just right of a water hazard. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ingram then chipped his third shot to within 10 feet of the hole and from there, he calmly drained his seven birdie of the round, against just one bogey. 

Chapman also had a stellar round of golf for the afternoon, carding a 3-under-par 69, topping his morning round by five shots and earning his first sub-par round of the entire season. Tarvin also earned a red number on the scorecard with a 1-under 71, followed by Chaparro (73), Rhee (76) and Garman (78). 

Next up for the Pirates will be the Southern California Regional Finals, set for Monday, May 5 at Los Serranos Golf Club in Chino.