April 27, 2006
SAN DIEGO - The 21st ranked San Diego State men's golf team begins its postseason quest to the NCAA championship series with the Mountain West Conference championships, which will start this Thursday up at the par-72, 7,630 yard Crosswater golf course at the Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore. The tournament will feature 54-holes of golf played on each of the three days, from April 27-29.
Experience in the Starting Line-Up:
Coming into this tournament, the Aztecs will feature three-out-of-their five starters, who are already familiar with this course. Last year, then-juniors, Andrew Scott and Josh Warthen played in the MWC championships, finishing in 22nd and ninth respectively. Warthen led all Aztec golfers with a 218 (+2). During the 2003-04 season, Aaron Goldberg, as a freshman, participated in the conference tournament earning a 10th place finish with a 4-over, 220.
This year, Scott has played exceptionally well, leading the team with the most top-5 tournament finishes, including a tournament win at the UH Fall Intercollegiate, in which he shared co-medalist honors with three other players. Scott also leads the team in stroke average (72.2), SCIRP average (+1.5) and has played in every varsity tournament this year. Unsatisfied with just these accomplishments, Scott also broke his own, and SDSU's record for the lowest 54-hole score of 203 during the John A. Burns Intercollegiate, and now holds the second lowest 18-hole score with a 64, which he also carded at this tournament.
Warthen, like Scott, is no novice to success, as he too has carded a tournament win, in which he shared co-medalist honors with fellow teammate, David Palm at the Club Glove Intercollegiate. Out of the 11 tournaments played, he has placed in the top-20 in six of them. Last year, Warthen led the team at the MWC tournament, so this year, the team will be relying on his experience with success on the course.
Goldberg, who redshirted last year due to an injury, returned this year in full swing to card six top-20 finishes, five of which were in the top-10. He also had the second lowest stroke average (72.6); second lowest 18-hole score (65), which currently puts him in a four-way tie for fourth on the all-time lowest individual 18-hole score category; shot a 207, which is the sixth all-time lowest 54-hole individual score in SDSU history; and has the second lowest SCIRP average on the season (+2.9) in 11 tournaments played.
Rounding out the rest of the starting line-up, is sophomore David Palm and junior John Gray. Like Warthen, Palm, in 11 tournaments played, has finished with six top-20 finishes, including a win in the Club Glove Intercollegiate. He also has the third lowest 18-hole score on the season (66). Gray, who has played in four varsity tournaments and one JV tournament, has proven himself as he holds a .667 percent for rounds counted towards team scoring, as well as carding seventh and 16th place finishes.
The Competition:
This tournament will be no walk in the park for the Aztecs. Including SDSU, the MWC championships will feature five teams ranked in the top-50 by the Golfweek/Sagarain polls. UNLV leads the Mountain West, ranked eighth, followed by the No. 9 ranked BYU, No. 34 New Mexico and MWC-newcomer, TCU, who is ranked in 37th.
Individually, BYU will enter the tournament with the most players ranked in the top-200 by Golfweek/Sagarain, with five players. SDSU, TCU and UNLV will enter the tournament with four, New Mexico with two and Utah with one player ranked. Yet, not to be deceived by the numbers, one should note that all of UNLV's ranked players are in the top-100, with one player - Andres Gonzales - being ranked in the top-25 in the nation. The Aztecs will definitely have their work cut out for them.
So far this year, the Aztecs have not carded a win against BYU and New Mexico, but is undefeated against the Air Force Academy, Colorado State, Wyoming and Utah. Out of four contests against top-ranked UNLV, the Aztecs have only won one event. This will be the first time this seasons that the Aztecs will play against TCU, as well.
Last year, the Aztecs entered the MWC tournament barely clinging onto a position in the top-50, as they came in at 49th on the leaderboard. Now, entering the tourney 28 positions higher, at the 21st spot, SDSU is hoping that this will give them a greater edge against the competition.
History in the MWC Tournament:
- Don't be fooled by the numbers above. Although New Mexico may seem harmless, they are coming into the conference championships with experience. Since the 2002-03 season, New Mexico has won the tournament three consecutive times, beating UNLV last year, BYU the year prior and SDSU for their first win. UNLV has won this tournament twice during the 2000 and 2002 seasons, and BYU won it during 2001.
- SDSU has two runner-up finishes in 2001 as well as last season, and also has placed fourth in 2002 and fifth in 2000. The past two years, the Aztecs have placed in fourth. Since the MWC, the team has never placed below fifth.
- The first MWC championship took place at the PGA West Course in Palm Desert, Calif. The tournament then moved to Sunriver, for the next six seasons.
- This year's course will be the same par (72) and yardage (7,568) as the past two years.
- New Mexico and UNLV own all of the team championship records. The record for the lowest individual round is 64 by Colorado State's Martin Laird, while UNLV Ryan Moore has the tournament 54-hole record of 10-under, 206. SDSU appears in the record books in one spot, smallest individual winning margin (1) by John Lepak in 2001.
Results:
Live stats will be provided for this year's Mountain West Conference championship. The stats will be available on the MWC website (themwc.com) or through Golfstat (golfstat.com).
Last Time at the Championships:
After the final day of competition, the San Diego State men's golf team shot a final round score of 290, its best round of the tournament, and finished in fourth place at the 2005 Mountain West Conference Championships in Sunriver, Ore.
The Aztecs were two-over-par Saturday and finished the 54-hole tournament with at 11-over-par. New Mexico claimed the team title with a three-round score of 8-under-par. UNLV finished in second place three shots back, followed by Brigham Young five shots behind the Lobos. SDSU took fourth place with a comfortable 11-stroke advantage over fifth-place Colorado State. Wyoming, Utah and Air Force rounded out the team standings.
Individually, San Diego State then-junior Josh Warthen recorded his first top 10 finish of the season, shooting a 75 on the final day to end the championships at 2-over-par, which tied him for ninth place.
Then-senior Linus Nilsson shot 74 in the third round and finished the tournament in a tie for 12th at 3-over-par. Then-senior Aaron Choi and current-senior Andrew Scott each produced their best round of the tournament on the final day. Choi, survived bogeys on the first two holes to shoot an even-par 72. He ended the tournament at 6-over-par. Scott produced the best round by an Aztec player at the MWC championships and one of just six rounds in the 60s on Saturday as he fired a 3-uner-par 69. He was even after nine holes, but four birdies in a six-hole stretch en route to a 33 on the back nine. He finished the tournament at 6-over-par.
San Diego State's team total of 875 is the fifth lowest total for an Aztec team at a 54-hole conference tournament - score the current team is hoping to break.
Up Next:
The winner of this week's Mountain West Conference championship earns an automatic bid to the NCAA regional tournament. Should SDSU claim the MWC title, it will head to the NCAA west regionals at the Tucson National Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz., from May 18-20. The other two regional sites include the Sand Ridge Golf Club in Cleveland, Ohio (Central) and the Lake Nona Golf Club in Orlando, Fla. (East).
Each of the three regional tournaments will include 27 teams and six individuals, not on those teams. The participants will be selected by the NCAA men's golf committee and are announced shortly after the Regionals end.
The Aztecs are currently ranked second of 18 teams in the southwest district. A minimum of six teams out of the southwest district will earn bids to the NCAA regional tournament. The top 10 teams and two individuals (not on those teams) from each region will advance to the NCAA championships, May 31 to June 3, back in Sunriver, Ore.
Head Coach Ryan Donovan:
In his third season with the Aztecs, head coach Ryan Donovan has taken the reigns and started turning SDSU into a top golfing school. In his first year, SDSU compiled a record of 105-66-1. The following year, the team improved in their win column, finishing with a 161-80-4, as well as a trip back to the NCAA championships. This year, Donovan has pushed his team to finish with an overall record of 127-37-2.
Donovan has produced noticeable results since becoming the men's golf head coach, not just with the seasonal records and rankings, but statistically as well. In the 2003-04 season, the Aztecs started out with a 76.2 win percentage, which was later topped by a 80.3 during the following season. This year, the Aztecs accumulated an 87.4 win percentage; over a seven percent increase.
Prior to taking over the program, Donovan served as the SDSU assistant golf coach to now-men's golf operations director, Dale Walker. From 1997 to 2001, Donovan also was a four-year member of the Aztec golf team. The most successful season of his collegiate career was in 200, when he recorded five top-30 finishes.