BEAUMONT, Calif. — Kelby Scharmann became La Verne's first conference medalist since 2012 and the Leopards fought off Claremont-Mudd-Scripps over the final nine holes at Oak Valley Golf Course (par-72) on Tuesday afternoon to win the 2015 SCIAC Men's Golf Championship Tournament.
Scharmann shot an eight-under 208 to run away with the individual title, beating defending national champion Bobby Holden (67-74-73=214) of Redlands by six shots, and became La Verne's first titlist since Derek Zachman '13 won the 2012 tournament.
The senior All-American started slowly by his lofty standards but caught fire in the second round and never looked back. He shot a one-over 73 in the first round but booked a three-under 69 in the second round to move into third place. Then everything came together on the final day. He sank three birdies in a row to start the third round and drilled four more on the back nine without a bogey to card a six-under 66 on the day.
The Leopards needed every one of those birdies as Claremont-Mudd-Scripps made a late charge. The Stags made four birdies as a team in the final three holes and had a chance to tie the Leopards. But Kethan Reddy just missed a short putt for what would've been his third birdie in a row at the 18th hole and the Leopards (294-286-302=882 ) held on for a one shot victory.
Alec Spencer grabbed the headlines in the second round. The sophomore nailed an incredible seven birdies without a bogey to shoot to the top of the leaderboard on Monday. Spencer shot a three-over 75 in the first round and a seven-over 79 in the final round to finish at three-over 219 for the tourney. He finished tied for fourth overall.
Trent Twamley finished 15th at 11-over 227 (73-76-78) and Michael Bonicatto came in tied for 20th at 17-over 233 (80-78-75).
Despite winning the championship tournament, La Verne could not make up enough ground on Redlands, which came into the weekend with a 30-stroke lead, and finished second overall in the conference.
The Leopards now await a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship on May 12-15 held at Grandover Resort in Greensboro, N.C.