Irvine Valley men's golfters Adam Ruppert and Daniel Neben played well, but, fell short of qualifying for the Southern California Regionals at the Orange Empire Conference Championships on Monday at Los Serranos in Chino Hills.

Ruppert shot 2 over par in the morning 18-hole round and 5 over par in the afternoon round.

Neben scored 6 over par in his morning round and 1 under par in his afternoon round.

IVC will not be represented at the So. Cal. Regionals in Lompoc next Monday.

Palomar captured the Orange Empire Conference title at Los Serranos with a total team score of 10 under par.

"This season's team often played outstanding golf," Coach Ben Burnett said. "However, the conference was so strong that you had to play outstanding golf in every match in order to squeeze out a victory."

Burnett is optomistic that his current crop of recruits will battle for a playoff spot in the 2010 season.