May 9, 2005
SAN DIEGO - For the seventh straight year and the 10th time in program history, the San Diego State men's golf team has earned an invitation to the NCAA regional tournament. The Aztecs are seeded 13th out of 27 teams in the west regional, which will take place May 19-21, at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, Calif.
"We have a lot of confidence going back to Stanford where we played just a couple of weeks ago," head coach Ryan Donovan said. "We don't need to do anything fancy. If we play our game we are capable of returning to the national tournament this year."
SDSU is among 81 NCAA Division I schools selected to play in one of three regional tournaments. The other regionals will take place concurrently in South Bend, Ind. (Central Regional) and Nashville, Tenn. (East Regional) and will also include 27 teams and six individual qualifiers each.
The tournament will consist of 54 holes over a three-day period with 18 holes played each day. The top 10 teams and two individuals not on advancing teams will move on from each regional to the championship finals.
San Diego State is returning to the Stanford Golf Course, where the Aztecs placed second out of 18 teams last month at the U.S. Intercollegiate. Aaron Choi paced SDSU at 54-hole event, shooting an even-par 210. Joining SDSU in the west regional are fellow Mountain West Conference members UNLV, New Mexico, Brigham Young and Colorado State.
Last year San Diego State finished 13th in the west regional, falling just short of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. SDSU's best regional finishing was fifth in the 1999 west regional.
The Aztecs are looking to return to the national championships for the 18th time in school history and third time since the regional format began in 1989, having advanced out of regional play in both 1999 and 2003.
The national championship will be held June 1-4 at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Mary.