Season Preview: 2015 CMS Men’s Golf
CLAREMONT, Calif. – Over the course of the history of the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's golf program, CMS has won 10 conference championships, most recently last season. In 2014, the Stags topped Redlands by four strokes at the SCIAC Championships to win conference for the first time since 1995. During the 19-year period in between conference championships, CMS has made numerous appearances in the NCAA Championships and has come close to winning SCIAC, but in 2014, the Stags had a breakthrough year.
"It had been 19 years since our last SCIAC championship which was before my time [at CMS], so it felt really good to finally get it done," said head coach Bim Jollymour.
CMS is coming off a strong fall season in which they ended the fall ranked No. 1 in Division III in the latest Golfstat rankings after a pair of second place finishes at its two fall tournaments. To repeat in 2015 as the conference champions, as usual, the Stags have a tough task. The SCIAC is one of the top men's golf conferences in Division III, with three top-15 teams. CMS also has to overcome the loss of several key seniors including Jordan Stein along with All-American and 2013 NCAA Division III national champion, Brad Shigezawa.
Consistency and depth has been the name of the game for CMS under Coach Jollymour. The team has proven, year-in, year-out, that even with the graduation of a golfer of Shigezawa's caliber, they can bounce back and have a great year. As was the case in 2013 when the Stags finished 5th at the NCAA Championships, the season after All-American Tain Lee graduated.
In 2015, the Stags are led by three golfers who were on the 2014 squad which won SCIAC and participated in the NCAA Championships: senior captain Ben Ho, junior All-American Kethan Reddy and junior Justin Beck. Reddy was the top finisher for the Stags at both fall tournaments, while Beck was All-Region and Ho was a Scholar All-American during the 2014 spring season.
As far as newcomers for CMS, freshmen Tim de Silva, Joe LaHorgue, Jonathan Shaw and Matt Shuman were four individuals who contributed to the team's successful fall campaign. Of the newcomers, Shaw, de Silva and Shuman all registered top-10 finishes at the Embry Riddle Invitational, while Shaw, La Horgue and de Silva finished in the top-20 at Cal Cup.
The Stags tee of their spring season on Feb. 2-3 at the Cal State San Marcos Cougar Invitational at Shadowridge Golf Course in Vista, Calif. The first SCIAC tournament of the season is on Feb. 21-22 at Robinson Ranch Golf Course. Another highlight of the 2015 schedule is the team's annual trip to Jekyll Island, Ga. for the Collegiate Invitational March 13-15, against some of the best competition in Division III. For the full 2015 schedule, please click here.
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