Otters Jason Owen named Coach of the Year

CSU Monterey Bay's men's golf team won its second straight California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) championship on April 19 at Hunter Ranch Golf Course in Paso Robles. The Otters also took the top two places in the individual competition.

The 12th-ranked Otters held off hard-charging Chico State to finish at 18-under-par 846 and win by two strokes. That’s the lowest score in the tournament’s eight years on the 6,421-yard, par-72 Hunter Ranch course.

Top-ranked Chico State carded the day’s best round, an 11-under-par 277, for second place. No. 16 Cal State Stanislaus (+12) finished third, while 11th-ranked Sonoma State (+19) was fourth.

Cal State San Bernardino (+23) finished fifth, UC San Diego (+31) sixth, Cal State East Bay (+40) seventh, and Cal State Dominguez Hills (+59) eighth.

Team members Scott Yeakel and Oskar Nystrom, along with Chico State's Kyle Souza, needed a playoff to determine the individual champion. Souza was eliminated on the first playoff when both CSUMB players birdied. Yeakel drained a 10-foot birdie putt on the third hole to claim the title.

John Jackson, last year's individual medalist, came in fourth with a 4-under-par 212 after carding six birdies in the final round. Dylan Jackson finished in 10th place with an even-par 216 total. D.J. Milligan tied for 22nd with a 8-over par 224.

“When I took over this program three years ago, I told the guys that my dream is to finish 1-through-5,” said head coach Jason Owen. “We came close today with two guys tied for the lead, another guy fourth and another tied for 10th. Our program’s healthy and hopefully we can do this for many years to come.”

This win marks the fourth straight tournament victory for the Otters heading into the NCAA Super Regional tournament May 2-4.

At the conclusion of play, conference individual award winners were named. Coach of the Year honors went to Jason Owen of CSUMB. Kenny Pigman of CSU San Bernardino was Most Valuable Player; Freshman of the Year was Chris Doyle of Chico State; and Cody Thompson, also of Chico, was named Newcomer of the Year.

Named to the All-Tournament team were: Patrick Bauer, Sonoma State Trevor Blair, Cal State Stanislaus Eric Fazzetta, Chico State Dylan Jackson, Cal State Monterey Bay John Jackson, Cal State Monterey Bay Oskar Nystrom, Cal State Monterey Bay Kenny Pigman, Cal State San Bernardino Teddy Schrior, Cal State Stanislaus Kyle Souza, Chico State Scott Yeakel, Cal State Monterey Bay