VENTURA, Calif. — Hisham Hussein finished as the best overall golfer and the University of La Verne men's golf team opened up SCIAC competition with a first place tie at Olivas Links.
The tournament is the first leg of SCIAC play, with the scores combining with the team scores at the SCIAC No. 2 Tournament and the SCIAC Championship Tournament for the overall SCIAC Championship.
The Leopards finished with a two-day score of 580 (+4) tying with No. 9 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
"We're happy with the result but by no means is this a win," said La Verne Head Coach Eric Riehle. "SCIAC is a seven round tournament as I see it, this only allows us more time to continue improving."
Individually, Hisham Hussein had an incredible performance. The junior shot a four-under, 68 in the first round and bested that performance the second time around shooting a five-under, 67. Hussein's overall total of nine-under, 135 was seven strokes better than the next competitor.
"Hisham was outstanding this weekend," said Riehle. "His improved putting and a newly integrated resultless outlook have now freed him to play the game comfortably."
La Verne got off to a hot start shooting a 287 in the opening round putting them in third place behind Cal Lutheran's 282 and Redlands' 285. La Verne shot a combined 293 in the second round to claim a piece of first place.
Conner Davis was the next best individual performer for La Verne shooting a 73 in the opening round and a 74 on day two to tie for 11th place.
Three strokes behind was Pitiluk Phanomchai who finished tied for 20th with a two-day score of 150 (72, 78).
Jason Brown made the biggest individual improvement for the Leopards on day two. After opening the tournament with a 79, Brown improved by four strokes in round two finish tied for 32nd with a score of 154.
Tied with Brown was Aaron DiGiamarino who shot a 74 on day one and a 80 on day two.
Charlie Green finished one stroke behind the pair tied for 36th overall at 155 (78, 77).
Team Scores
La Verne 580
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 580
Redlands 581
Cal Lutheran 584
Chapman 588
Pomona-Pitzer 598
Occidental 599
Whittier 610
Next Round: The Leopards compete next at the Las Vegas Desert Classic at the Royal Links Golf Club March 4-6.
