Antlers up, hooves steady, Stags golf is working to stay focused as the season wraps up. The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) men’s golf team has been on a dynastic streak, earning back to back SCIAC championships and pushing to the national podium two years in a row, taking home bronzes from the NCAA Division III national championship in both 2022 and 2023. After handily taking SCIAC No. 1 by eight strokes, all signs pointed towards a three-peat. That was until SCIAC No. 2 on April 5, which saw the perennial champs down in the dumps with a fifth place finish.
With the pressure of finals season coalescing with recent team struggles, the Stags are hurrying to right the ship in time to make it back to nationals on the back of strong team support.
Jamison Tan CM ’27 — who hit four under par in his first collegiate round at the Redlands invitational and was a key part in the Stags easily taking the SCIAC preseason poll — attributed rocky performances to emotional team play.
“We’re really trying to dial it in and make more consistent team play,” Tan said. “It seems like most of our teammates really ride the lows of other members of our team when we’re having bad days and we really ride the highs of when we’re playing well.”
Upperclassmen have stepped up into the spotlight this year, including Michael Ma CM ’25 who, as captain, has been a centering force for the team, playing with a focus that helped the team through the highs and lows.
“There’s definitely interesting players to watch, like Ma,” Andy Sun CM ’26 said. “He’s definitely a leader in a team and his short game is very good. He plays with a lot of focus.”
Ma led the team at SCIAC No. 2, tying third overall with par play, despite a team-wide slump and helped ensure that CMS was still in discussion for the postseason tournament. Ma finished 10 positions above Tan, the next CMS representative, who putted four over par.
“[Ma] is kind of like my role model,” Tan said. “I looked at his profile before I came and he had a really good first year and I was like, that’s who I really want to be like and he’s really been a great captain for us. He was really supportive and everything, he always cheers for you. He’s been one of the guys I look up to.”
In good news for the Stags, SCIAC rule changes have diminished the effects of a poor showing at SCIAC No. 2. In past years, the champion has been decided by an aggregate of scores from SCIAC No. 1, No. 2 and the postseason tournament, but now the three-round SCIAC Championship determines the conference winner.
With the path back to nationals still clear, the Stags are hitting the green as much as possible while balancing school work and the impending flurry of finals week.
“Everyone is very busy with golf and school heading into the tourney,” Jack Rende CM ’26 said.
However, Tan said the team was still pushing each other to improve, holding each other accountable outside of practice and focusing on community building. Rende, who recently earned a spot on the team as a walk on, has been putting in the energy to help his teammates succeed.
“[Rende’s] really been pushing me a lot to practice,” Tan said. “He definitely works really, really hard and feels like he’s asked me to practice more often than I go ask him. So it’s really been pushing me to practice more. I really love that.”
The Stags are continuing to practice and grow as a team as they prepare to take to the green at the SCIAC Championships, which will be held at Los Serranos in Chino Hills from April 28-30.
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