SMCC Men's Golf, Dillon Dean Win ACCAC Division II Region 1 Titles
PHOENIX ---
The South Mountain Community College men's golf team finished at 29-over 1,165 to win the ACCAC Division II Region 1 Championships held at Ocotillo Golf Course in Chandler, Ariz., from April 22-25. The Cougars pulled way in the final round with a score of 6-over 290 to defeat second-place Chandler-Gilbert CC by 18 strokes on the final leaderboard. Individually, freshman Dillon Dean won individual medalist honors at 1-under 283 to defeat CGCC's Jaden McCloud by four strokes.
The Cougars held a two-stroke lead over the Coyotes after posting a 1-over 285 on the opening day. Day two saw SMCC build upon that lead with a 6-over 290, with the Coyotes finishing at 12-over 296. However, CGCC shaved two strokes off the advantage in the third round after SMCC finished at 16-over 300.
Despite the challenges, the SMCC team showed resiliency, cutting 10 strokes off their third-round score to pick up 12 over CGCC and claim the regional title.
Dean finished under par in three of his four rounds, posting scores of 1-under 70 in the first, second, and final rounds. He was the only competitor to finish under par for the competition, and he recorded 21 birdies over the 72 holes, including six in each of the first two rounds.
Dean was the Golf Coaches Association of America March 2024 NJCAA Division II SwingU College Player of the Month after he won the Mountain Lion Spring Invitational and tied for the tournament title at the Gaucho Spring Shootout Invitational. He later won the Cougars Spring Invitational for his third-straight event title, finishing 12-under 132, including a 10-under 62 in his second round.
Freshman Dylan Kohner placed third at 9-over 293 with scores of 67, 74, 75, and 77. He tied for the tournament lead after posting six birdies over the opening 18 and recorded six more over his final 54 holes.
Freshman Eric Klutke finished fourth and one stroke behind Kohner at 10-over 294 with rounds of 76, 71, 77, and 70. He moved up four spots on the final leaderboard after posting a 1-under 70 in the final round that featured four birdies. He had four birdies over the first three rounds.
Sophomore Brady Clark finished eighth at 15-over 299, with rounds of 72, 75, 75, and 77. He made 10 birdies in the competition.
Fellow sophomore Cole Finch was 16th at 13-over 226 and played three rounds for SMCC, carding a 76 in round one, a 77 in round two, and a 73 in round four. Freshman Tyler Walker played the second round for the Cougars and posted an 10-over 81.
