Pirate golfers punch ticket to state finals!

CHINO -- The remarkable 2025 season for the Orange Coast College men's golf has one final chapter in it as the Pirates finished fourth overall at Monday's Southern California Regional playoffs, earning a spot at this weekend's state finals.

With another steady 36-hole performance, the Pirates finished fourth overall with a team score of 742, trailing only College of the Canyons (719), Santa Barbara (729) and College of the Desert (739). Ventura was two shots behind the OCC Pirates with a team score of 744, earning the fifth and final team spot for the state finals. Other team scores from Monday included Mt. San Antonio (747), Glendale (762), Cypress (773) and Cuyamaca (779).

The Pirates were led on Monday by the 1-2 punch of Matt Ingram and Troy Tarvin. Ingram earned All-Southern California honors with a fourth-place individual two-round score of 143. He opened the morning with 2-under-par, 70 then followed that up with a 1-over-par, 73. 

Tarvin went really low in the morning with a 4-under-par 68, then finished the afternoon with a 77 for a two-round score of 1-over, 145.

It was a steady stream of 70s golf for the Pirates up and down the OCC roster. Nate Rhee carded scores of 78-73 for a 151, followed by Tyler Chapman (79-73-152), Victor Chaparro (75-78-153), Tate Garman (78-77-155).

The hard work has brought the Pirates to the finish line against the best golf programs in the state. It's the first team appearance for OCC at the state finals since 2018, where Coast finished third overall. It's Coast's fifth trip to the state finals since 2010. In 2013, the Pirates earned a runner-up finish, which was the highest team finish since winning the program's lone state championship back in 1958.

The 3C2A Men's Golf State Championships will take place on Sunday and Monday at the Bayonet Black Horse Golf Club in Seaside, beginning at 8:30 a.m. for both days.