Photo: Aaron Gray
POMONA, Calif. (Apr. 10, 2022) – Freshmen Cortland Benner (Bend, Ore. / Combine Academy) and Johnny Williams led the Whittier College men's golf team at this weekend's SCIAC No. 2, co-hosted by Whittier and Pomona-Pitzer College at Mountain Meadows Golf Course.
Benner and Williams finished among the tournament's top-12 golfers thanks to both golfers shooting +2 for the weekend. Both men had very different experiences at this weekend's tournament with Williams leading the Poets on Day 1 by shooting one under par, putting him within four shots of the round leader from the University of Redlands. However, Benner recovered from his Day 1 by having as good of a day as anyone on Sunday, shooting a three-under 69 to work his way back into contention. Benner got particularly hot on the back nine of Sunday's round, birdieing three times consecutively on a Par 5 sandwiched in between a pair of Par 4 holes. A couple late hiccups prevented Benner from making a full recovery back to even par, but the freshman held his own alongside Williams, who birdied two of his last three holes of the tournament. Benner and Williams were two of four SCIAC golfers to shoot +2 for the weekend
Collectively, the Poets shot +22 for the tournament, positioning themselves fifth among the eight participating SCIAC teams. Other notable Whittier scorers included sophomore Jackson Bragg (Chico, Calif. / Saddleback College) who finished +8 for the tournament, and freshman Neeraj Shetty who finished +10. Collectively, the Poets had their greatest amount of success with Mountain Meadows' Par 3's as they finished fourth among the field on par 3's alone, while Williams closed the tournament as the only player to shoot under par on those holes alone.
Head Coach Doo Kang and the Poets will now begin preparation for the 2022 SCIAC Championship Tournament, set to take place over three days at the Morongo Golf Club at Tukwet Canyon beginning on Monday, Apr. 25.
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