Tam High’s Max Berg has faced tough competition on Marin County’s golf courses all season from the league’s best players … including his own teammates. At the end of the day, Berg stood atop the field at the MCAL Championship on Monday at StoneTree Golf Club.

“There were really hard conditions out there,” said Berg, who turned in a 2-over par 74 to claim the individual championship. He edged Marin Catholic’s Theo Anderson by one stroke. The Red-tailed Hawks’ Ben Friedman and Redwood’s Arjun Aujla finished tied for third at 5-over 77.

“This season has been great,” Berg said. “We have a lot of chemistry as a team, which is a big part of why we’ve been successful. … We all have a little competition with each other on the team. Ben Friedman is such an awesome player and Hayden Thill is another great player. All of us compete in practice and that makes us better.”

The Giants took home the team pennant with a combined score of 404, good enough to hold off the Red-tailed Hawks by five strokes (409). Marin Catholic placed third at 415, with Branson and Terra Linda tied at 444.

Berg and Anderson teed off together in a group with Redwood’s Brody Root (81) and Terra Linda’s Derek Newhall (84) on the first tee in a shotgun start. Berg got rolling early in his round as he was 2-under through the front nine, with Anderson staying close, waiting for an opening.

“The weather was hard, but the most important thing was just grinding it out,” Anderson said. “I just had to be patient and take advantage of the opportunities when they came around.”Few golfers came into the clubhouse happy with their scores after an exhausting 18 holes. A strong, bitter wind and occasional rain made for a difficult day and higher than normal scores.

“I expected someone to come in with a better score than me,” Berg said. “It was really tough out there with high winds and spitting rain. My driver was definitely off. Everything, every part of the game was affected. I was just grinding out balls.”

Ryan Herbst was the top scorer for the Branson School, with a 7-over 79, good enough for fifth place.

Redwood’s Jack Mount and Tam’s Hayden Thill tied for sixth at 8-over 80. The Giants got a boost to their team score with Root and Sam Sumski finishing in a tie for eighth place at 9-over. Dominic Orlando’s 13-over 85 was good enough for a three-way tie for 14th place and helped put Redwood over the top in the team competition.

Marin Catholic’s Mason Sylvester and Tam’s Adam Dali round out the top 10, tied at 11-over 83.

Newhall and Sean Madden tied for 12th at 12-over to lead the Trojans, with San Marin’s Darius Kellog one stroke behind, tied at 14th with Orlando and Marin Catholic’s Olie DeGraeve.

Anderson and the Wildcats have a week to prepare for the North Coast Section Division II Championships, to be held Monday, May 8, at Petaluma’s Rooster Run Golf Course. NCS Division II includes MCAL teams Marin Catholic, Branson and Terra Linda, as well as Marin Academy and San Domenico.

“This has been a fun season,” Anderson said. “Our team did pretty good today and I think we can do really well next week.”

Berg and his Tam teammates, along with Redwood can look ahead to the NCS Division I Championships on May 15 at Foxtail Golf Course in Rohnert Park.