Jonny Hogan fired an even-par 72 on Monday in the first WSC men's golf tournament and SBCC placed second at Valencia Country Club.
Hogan, a sophomore from Santa Ynez High who played on the 2013 Vaquero team, tied for second, one stroke behind the medalist, Eric Kim of the host school, Canyons.
Canyons, which has won the last five WSC crowns, opened 2015 with another tournament win. The Cougars totaled 373 strokes to top the eight-team field, beating SBCC (386) by 13 strokes and Ventura (388) by 15.
The Vaqueros had four players between 72 and 78 with Jaren McCartney shooting 75, Brett Patton 76 and Manny Manzone 78.
Santa Barbara has five returners from the last two years – Alec Constantinides and Jake DePass, who played last year, and Hogan, Patton and Joakim Flinck, who played in 2013.
"We were pretty nervous for the opening match," said Chuck Melendez, who's starting his 15th year as the SBCC men's coach. "We had high expectations after some pretty good practice scores. We got four pretty good scores today on a tough course."
Melendez could surpass 500 wins on Monday when the Vaqueros host WSC No. 2 at the Alisal Ranch Course in Solvang, starting at 11 a.m. Melendez is 497-437-3 in 15 seasons at the helm.
WSC No. 1
At par-72 Valencia CC
Team – 1, Canyons 373. 2, SBCC 386. 3, Ventura 388. 4, Glendale 395. 5, Antelope Valley 398. 6, Bakersfield 410 (won scorecard playoff). 7, Citrus 410. 8, Hancock 413.
Individual – 1, Eric Kim, Canyons, 71. 2 (tie), Jonny Hogan, SBCC, 72.
SBCC scores – Hogan 72, Jaren McCartney 75, Brett Patton 76, Manny Manzone 78, Alec Constantinides 85.
WSC standings – Canyons 7-0, SBCC 6-1, Ventura 5-2, Glendale 4-3, Antelope Valley 3-4, Bakersfield 2-5, Citrus 1-6, Hancock 0-7.