Winning state titles isn’t easy, but for College of The Canyons’ men’s golf head coach Gary Peterson, ending the season on top isn’tjust the norm – it’s the standard. And after the Cougars secured their third consecutive California Community College Athletic Association state title in come-from-behind-fashion, Peterson believes there’s no reason his team can’t do it next year.
“Each year is so different that after we went back-to-back the last two years, I really didn’t even consider the threepeat,” Peterson said of the 3C2A titles. “It’s a cool accomplishment. There’s no reason we can’t win again next year.”
With the third-consecutive state title, the Cougars have secured their 13th state championship in program history and 18th total for Peterson, including the five he has as the head coach of the women’s golf team.
But for Peterson, this year’s state title was also the one of the hardest as his Cougars had to battle extreme conditions such as 100-degree-plus weather in the Silver Rock Resort in La Quinta over the weekend.
“It was so hot, it was 15 a mph wind and it was 109 degrees,” Peterson said. “So, it literally felt you were in a sauna or standing in front of a furnace.”
While the temperatures were high, the scores on the course were low. The Cougars’ Anthony Nilson, a sophomore, ended the opening round sharing the tourney lead after a carding a total score of 69 (-3).
Nilson ended the day with four birdies and was tied for the lead with Julian Rombouts of Reedley.
Kai Willen, who’s a West Ranch alumnus, ended the opening round second on the Cougars’ scorecard with a score of 74 (+2) and was tied for 17th in the field.
Despite the low scores, the Cougars ended the day in third place in the total standings six strokes behind first-place College of the Desert.
Peterson said although his Cougars were behind after the opening round, he and the team never felt the heat.
“I told the boys, ‘Look, you have no pressure on yourself. You’re the defending state champs and won two in a row. Desert’s got all the pressure, and this is basically their home course,’” Peterson said. “We were kind of the underdog … and I just think that’s when the team came together.
In the second round, the Cougars trailed after the front nine with the deficit between them and first place extended to 11 strokes.
After the team ended the front nine, Peterson parked his golf cart between two trees with shade and watched the rest of the Cougars’ scorecard on GolfGenius, an app that inputs all the golfers’ scores as they’re added.
“It was so warm, we were handing out wet towels and were 11 down,” he said. “And to be honest, I put my phone down and said, ‘I don’t want to watch anymore.’”
But before Peterson could put his phone down, the Cougars began to come back.
“One of the guys comes back and says, ‘Did you see that? Arnaud [Bouhaniche] eagled a hole,” Peterson said. “Last time I looked, we were at 11, and then we’re seven, and then we’re at four, then we’re at two, then we’re tied, and we’re up one.”
After the Cougars took the narrow lead over the final six holes, Peterson and the rest of the team made their way down to the 18thhole.
When Peterson and the team made it down to the 18th hole, College of the Desert had its coach and golfer needing a hole out from the fairway to secure the win. And after the Desert golfer hit the ball, which landed outside the green, the state title was clinched for COC.
“I’ve been doing this for 42 years. And it was probably one of the most exciting things I’ve seen on the golf course,” Peterson said.“When I think back on this threepeat, I’m going to think back on what these golfers did on the last six holes at Silver Rock.”
With the win, the program achieved its fourth title in the past five seasons and ended the year with its 15th straight Western State Conference title and runner-up in the 3C2A Southern California regional championship.
In the individual standings, Nilson secured the state title after ending the final round with a 69 (-2) with four birdies over the final five holes — including the 18th — and was named to the 3C2A All-State team following the tournament.
Bouhaniche ended the day in sixth place with freshman Jack Franklin finishing in 11th.
West Ranch alumnus Willen ended the tournament tied for 34th after he posted a score of 81 (+9) in the final round but was noted by Peterson as a golfer who will help lead the program next season.
For many junior collegiate programs around the country, reloading after a title-winning season can be hard.
But for Peterson, it’s his favorite aspect of his job as he gets to grow young golfers in both the men’s and women’s programs and build the program to win in the future.
“At this point in my career, it’s extremely fun,” he said. “All I do is plug the system in and watch these young men and young women and grow as individuals, grow as students, and grow as golfers.”
