As part of the buildup to the 75th Anniversary celebration for Claremont McKenna College (visit CMC's 75th Anniversary Countdown Page to learn more), we are reliving many of the great moments from CMS athletic department history over the 75-day countdown from April 17 to July 1. If you were a part of this great moment and would like to add to the memories, or if you would like to submit your memories of your own favorite CMS Athletics moments, fill out the form on our main 75th Anniversary page.

Great Moments from 75 Years of Athletics
2016 Men's Golf: Stags Take National Championship

The CMS Men's Golf program had a rapid ascent during the 2010s. The Stags had their first two individual national champions in 2010 (Tain Lee) and 2013 (Brad Shigezawa), and won the league title in 2014 for the first time since 1995. CMS kept right on climbing, though, and their ascent brought them to the top of the NCAA mountain with the program's first-ever national championship in 2016.

The Stags couldn't have asked for a better start to the four-day tournament, roaring out to an 11-stroke lead after the opening round, as senior Kethan Reddy (-3) and freshman Alex Wrenn (-1) were the only golfers in the field of 210 to shoot in the red. The Stags maintained a nine-stroke lead after the second day, and a seven-stroke lead after the third, and teed off with defending national champion and tournament favorite Methodist in their groups on the final round.

Conditions were rainy and incredibly difficult and CMS did not record a birdie on the front nine, but Methodist struggled as well and the Stag lead never got closer than when Saint Thomas pulled to within five. Wrenn's three birdies down the stretch helped solidify the win and enable him to tie for the individual championship, although Evan Cox of Virginia Wesleyan had a birdie on the playoff hole to give Wrenn a runner-up finish. As a team, CMS recorded eight birdies down the stretch (Matt Shuman also had three on the back nine) to prevent any late comebacks as the Stags all played clutch golf coming in and put the finishing touches on their championship.

Reddy finished tied for 12th, Jonathan Shaw was tied for 21st, Shuman came in 36th, and Johnny Brandt was tied for 55th as all five Stags finished in the top third of the field. View the NCAA video recap here and a feature on KTTV below. 

Kethan Reddy:

2016 was a pivotal year in my life, and the national championship experience was a huge part of that.  I filled the shoes of team captain, a role I'd been anticipating for three years.  We had a rowdy but cohesive group of guys and I had a blast at every practice and meeting.  I had low expectations of myself given a slump, so I was shocked to have the first round individual lead.  I was not shocked that we had the team lead, though.  We were prepared, and the golf course in Rochester, NY suited our styles of play.  It was fun getting recognized at the hotel as "that team that was in the lead, that wore Tommy Bahama to the welcome banquet." 

The final round was a grind for me.  I was in the final group, and all the week's band-aid fixes had come undone - I had to hang on in case my score counted.  I had the pleasure of playing in the group behind then-freshman Alex Wrenn, and watching three of the best final birdies I've ever seen.  As I walked up the 18th hole, I knew we had won, but the nerves didn't go away.  It was amusing to watch my giddy teammates up on the hillside by the 18th green, then tap in my bogey putt to end our victorious week. 

I felt euphoric reveling alongside my teammates, coaches, and father, then later fielding some congratulatory phone calls and sending a few snapchats (ah 2016).  My graduation was the next day, so I had an evening flight. The next 24 hours was a mix of highs and lows as I said goodbye to four years of camaraderie and memories at CMC, and four years of unforgettable athletics with CMS.

Jon Shaw:

Our three-round tournament at Jekyll Island in March played a huge role in what made us mentally strong for nationals. Jekyll acts as the best spring preview for national championships in DIII, they normally have most of the top 15 contenders there in the division. We've never won this tournament. We played incredible golf the first two days, shot -8 in round 2 and led the tournament overnight going into the final round. Safe to say most of us didn't sleep well that night...and had a tough round the next morning, squandering the lead and finishing 4th. We leaned on that experience heavily at Nationals - having learned the lessons of staying focused and executing with a bullseye on our backs. Huge contributor to us going wire to wire at nationals in my mind, sleeping three nights on the lead. (Also this would be a great way to give Rich Strock some props for funding those the Jekyll trips!)

Not to forget, we squeaked into nationals via winning SCIAC with some last round heroics. We shot a school record 274 (-14) the last round with Shuman shooting 64 (-8), coming from behind to win the title. Would we have made nationals without winning SCIACs? Probably, but definitely wasn't certain. 

What made us so special was that our entire starting squad was dangerous and could dominate a tournament at any point. Every one of us five all led the team at some point that season, the championship was a huge team effort. Johnny Brandt stepped it up that fall, almost winning our first tourney (Diamond Valley) then winning the second one in Arizona (Talking Rock) by a landslide. I won the first tournament of the season (SCIAC 1) by 6 strokes then had leads late in the tournament at Wente and Jekyll (I choked both of them unfortunately...). Alex Wrenn unlike me finished clutch at Jekyll and placed top three. Shuman came out with the 64 at the SCIAC Championships to haul us into nationals. Then Alex and Kethan stepped us to lead us at nationals. 

That tournament was truly a grind. Definitely the hardest golf course we played out of my four years of national championships. Tight fairways, rough almost as long as the US open, greens hard as rock and super difficult undulation, cold, breezy. The greens were so firm that they had to put almost every pin in the back of the greens on the final day so they could keep the scores mostly in the 70s. We were so exhausted after the tourney that a lot of us were asleep by 9 p.m. after winning!

I forget the specific number but all of us turned on the jets in the last three holes to close out the national championship. I want to say we made eight birdies as a team in the last three holes, obviously led by Wrenn's streak of birdies. I remember Wrenn dropping a 15-foot birdie putt on 17 right after I hit my tee shot. I ran onto the green to celebrate with him - we were absolutely amped.  

2016 Men's Golf Roster
Head Coach: Bim Jollymour
Assistant Coach: John Hill
Johnny Brandt (So., CMC)
Sidney Cozier (Fr., HMC)
Tim de Silva (So., CMC)
Joe LaHorgue (So., CMC)
Kethan Reddy (Sr., CMC)
Will Richardson (Fr., CMC)
Jon Shaw (So., CMC)
Matt Shuman (So., CMC)
Alex Wrenn (Fr., CMC)
Jackson Zepf (So., CMC)