Ma Takes SCIAC Individual Title for Second Time, CMS Men's Golf Finishes as Runner-Up

CHINO HILLS, Calif. - Yuefeng (Michael) Ma earned the second individual SCIAC Championship of his career, finishing at -6 with all three rounds in the red, as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's golf team finished second at the 2024 SCIAC Championships on Tuesday.

The Stags nearly had a furious comeback for the SCIAC title on the back nine on Tuesday, cutting a 10-shot Redlands lead down to two, before ending as the runner-up by four strokes.

Ma was the individual champion after shooting under par all three days, including a 70 (-2) on championship Tuesday, adding his medalist performance to his previous title as a first-year in 2022. Adrian Chiu finished fifth after a 71 (-1) on Tuesday, while Jamison Tan finished tied for 12th at +8. 

In addition to his individual medalist honor, Ma also earned the Jesse Clark Memorial Award, which is voted on by student-athletes in the SCIAC and is given to the golfer who best demonstrates the high qualities of skill and sportsmanship.

Ma led throughout the final round, but was caught for the lead with Tucker Lee of Pomona-Pitzer had an eagle chip on the 18th to match him at -4. Ma, though, was able to birdie the 13th to get back in the lead, and then effectively sealed it with a birdie on the par-3 17th. He nearly had a birdie on 18 as well, but tapped in for par to seal the individual title by one shot, after Aaron Buck from Redlands birdied the same hole in his foursome. 

CMS trailed Redlands by four after the first round, and by eight after the second round, before putting together a -1 on the final day to put some pressure on the Bulldogs. Tan had eagle on the third hole, and Ma had birdies on the eighth and ninth. On the back nine, Tan, Joshua Kwon, Chiu and Ma all birdied 13 in succession, with Kwon adding another birdie on 14 to close the gap down to just two.

Chiu birdied the 18th and Ma birdied the 17th to make one final push, but Redlands had three birdies on the 18th to hold on for the win. 

In the opening round, Ma had five birdies to take the individual lead, including one on 18 to pull out of a tie, which included Chiu, who had four birdies on his round to finishin at -2. Ma had 17 pars and a birdie in his second round to drop to -4 and hold the individual lead for the second straight day, while Tan had four birdies and Kwon three as they both had 73s to move up the leaderboard. 

CMS will next hope for an invitataion to the NCAA Division III Championships when selections are announced, as it tries to earn its way back to nationals, where it has finished tied for third in each of the last two seasons.