Cuyamaca College captures Orange Empire Conference men's golf title; Tahvildari is OEC MVP

TEMECULA – Led by an impressive performance from Nick Chavarin, the Cuyamaca College men’s golf team won the 2024 Orange Empire Conference championship by capping things off with a strong performance at the OEC Finals on Monday at Temecula Creek Golf Club, par-72.

In spite of a strong opening-round start from College of the Desert and Orange Coast, the Coyotes had racked up plenty of victories throughout the campaign and won the afternoon session as a capper for a dominant, all-around performance.

Chavarin, who posted a solid 1-over-par, 73 in the opening 18-hole session, went flag-hunting in the afternoon, shooting an impressive 4-UNDER-par, 68 for a two-round total of 141, just one shot off the lowest 36-hole score of the day, turned in by Riverside City College’s Bingcheng Zheng, who shot a 67-73-140.

Zheng and Chavarin were two of 12 players named to this year’s All-Orange Empire Conference squad and leading the way from start to finish was Orange Coast College freshman standout Tiger Tahvildari. Through eight rounds of play, Tahvildari had six rounds at par or lower and finished the season with a strokes-per-play average of 71.4, ahead of Zheng (72.5) and Cuyamaca’s Bret Leonhardt (73.1).

But the depth of the Coyotes was the factor as four golfers from this year’s squad – Leonhardt, Chavarin, Eduardo Maynez and Fisher Ransom – all earned All-Conference honors.

Cuyamaca, champions of the Coastal Division for 2024 as well, joins Orange Coast, Cypress, College of the Desert and Mt. San Antonio colleges at this year’s Southern California Regionals, hosted by Bakersfield College on May 5-6 at Rio Bravo Country Club. The top teams from there will then advance to the 3C2A State Men’s Golf Championship, set for May 12-13 at Santa Barbara’s Sandpiper Golf Club.

(Tony Altobelli, Orange Empire Conference)