Niels Andersen shot 74 and 68 on Monday to claim the WSC Finals men’s golf championship at Cypress Ridge GC in Arroyo Grande.
Andersen, a sophomore from San Marcos High, fired a 2-under 142 to beat Joey Herrera of Ventura (74-71) by three strokes in the 36-hole finals that featured 48 players. Vaquero teammate Theo Andre-Fouet tied for third at 73.
Andersen and Andre-Fouet earned All-WSC honors.
Andersen, who placed sixth in last year’s State Finals, tied for fourth in WSC No. 10, then tied for his second-lowest score of the year with a 4-under 68 that earned him medalist honors in WSC No. 11.
It was the third medalist award of the year for Andersen, who’s averaging 74.0 strokes. Herrera won the WSC Championship, based on stroke average in the 11 WSC tourneys. Ben Campbell of Canyons was second and Andersen was third.
Canyons won the WSC Finals team title with 753 strokes, edging Ventura by two shots. The Cougars beat the Pirates by a single stroke in WSC No. 10 (376-377) and No. 11 (377-378). The Vaqueros were third in each tourney with 383 and 385 strokes for a 785 total that was 15 back of the Cougars.
SBCC freshman Sean Mitton (Bishop, Calif.) was the medalist in WSC No. 10 with a season-best 73. Teammate Andrew Sederlund also shot 73, as did Daniel Taplin of Canyons.
Canyons won nine of 11 WSC tourneys this year and captured the conference title with a 73-4 record. Ventura was second at 65-12 and SBCC took third at 55-22. All three teams qualified for the Southern Cal Regional, along with Citrus, who was the fourth-highest scoring team in the WSC Finals at 785.
The Southern Cal Regional will take place on Monday with a 36-hole tourney at El Camino CC in Oceanside. The State Finals will be played at Cypress Ridge in Arroyo Grande on Monday, May 15.