Preston Gomersall fired a 1-under 71 to earn medalist honors on Sunday as SBCC opened its men's golf season by hosting the Pt. Conception Open on a windy day at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc.
The sophomore from Santa Barbara High has a two-stroke lead over Justin Kim of Reedley. Four players are tied for third at 74, including Mason Teron of Ventura. Eleven players are within five shots of the lead heading into Monday's final round.
Gomersall had three birdies and two bogeys on the challenging 7,105-yard layout.
"Windy conditions made birdies scarce today," said Gomersall, who claimed the Goleta City title in 2017 and eagled the last hole to win the Channel League crown in 2018. "I made a 75-foot putt for birdie on the 13th hole after missing a 4-footer for birdie on No. 12. That made up for it."
Gomersall was also the first-day leader of last year's Pt. Conception Open, shooting a 4-under 68 in his college debut. He went on to tie for third place.
"Preston had a great round today," said Chuck Melendez, who's starting his 20th season as the Vaqueros' coach. "We have a lot of new people and there's plenty of room to grow."
Reedley grabbed the team lead at 378 (75.6 average). Mt. SAC is 16 strokes back in second at 394, followed closely by Cypress (395), Ventura (395) and Irvine Valley (396). Palomar (401) is sixth and SBCC (402) is seventh in the 36-hole tourney that drew the largest field ever with 20 schools.
SBCC finished second in the state last year and Reedley was fifth.
Isaac Stone, who won last year's Channel League title as a senior at Santa Barbara High, was second on the Vaqueros at 79. Blake Bornand, a freshman from San Marcos, shot 81 and Igor Haenel carded an 83.
The final round will take place on Monday, starting at 8:30 a.m.
Pt. Conception Open
At par-72 La Purisima GC
First round
20 schools -- 1, Reedley 378. 2, Mt. SAC 394. 3 (tie), Cypress, Ventura 395. 5, Irvine Valley 396. 6, Palomar 401. 7, SBCC 402. 8, Saddleback 416. 9, Mt. San Jacinto 420. 10, Modesto 422. 11, Napa Valley 424. 12, Monterey Peninsula 425. 13, Bakersfield 434. 14, Glendale 436. 15, Antelope Valley 452. 16, Desert 454. 17, Citrus 464. 18, Hancock 465. 19, Victor Valley 486. 20, Taft, no score.
Medalist -- 1, Preston Gomersall, SBCC, 71. 2, Justin Kim, Reedley, 73. 3 (tie), Mason Teron, Ventura, 74; Tommy O'Rourke, Reedley, 74; Chris Chomyn, Reedley, 74; Brandon Michaels, Palomar, 74. 7 (tie), Jake Martin, Saddleback, 75; Xavier Valles, Palomar, 75.
SBCC scores -- 1, Gomersall 71. 17 (tie), Isaac Stone 79. 28 (tie), Blake Bornand 81. Igor Haenel 83, Preston Foy 88, Matt Pate 91.
