March 11, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
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AZTEC GOLFERS HEAD NORTH THIS WEEK TO COMPETE IN FRESNO STATE LEXUS CLASSIC
- Fresh off its second team title of the season at the Callaway Golf Invitational, San Diego State returns to the fairways this week when it heads north for the Fresno State Lexus Classic, March 12-13, in Fresno, Calif. The first two rounds of the 54-hole tournament are slated to get underway on Monday, beginning at 8 a.m. PDT at the 6,949-yard, par-72 Sunnyside Country Club. The final 18 holes will be contested on Tuesday with the same morning start time. Live scoring will be available on GoAztecs.com.
The two-day event features a field of 15 teams, including a foursome of schools ranked in the top 100 according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings released March 4. No. 36 UC Irvine is the highest-ranked team in the tournament, followed by 59th-ranked SDSU, No. 76 Oregon and No. 100 Nevada. The Aztecs will also take on Mountain West Conference rival Wyoming, Boise State, Cal State Bakersfield, Cal State Northridge, Hawai'i, Kansas State, New Mexico State, Pacific, San Jose State, Texas-El Paso, as well as the host Bulldogs.
The tournament will bestow both a new team and individual title as defending champion Denver and its medalist Charlie Soule are absent from this year's competition. Last season's edition of the Lexus Classic took place in October 2005, when the Aztecs posted their third consecutive runner-up finish in the annual Fresno invitational. SDSU has never placed out of the top five in the event dating back to the 1999-2000 season.
San Diego State will be looking for back-to-back team titles for the first time this season. The Aztecs also came up a winner at the District 7 Shootout last October in Las Vegas, but settled for a fourth-place finish in their home tournament two weeks later at the Barona Collegiate Cup. SDSU claimed consecutive crowns a year ago when it emerged triumphant at the Callaway Golf and Oregon Duck Invitationals.
Following the Fresno State Lexus Classic, SDSU will have two weeks off before heading to the Pacific Northwest for the Oregon Duck Invitational, March 26-27, at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. The Aztecs claimed their third team title of the 2005-06 campaign at last year's event, carding a 10-under 854 to win by twelve strokes over runner-up Nevada.
THIS WEEK'S LINEUP
- Head coach Ryan Donovan will take six golfers to the Central Valley this week with the top four finishers counting towards the team score. Leading the way are juniors Aaron Goldberg and Jamie Puterbaugh, who have played in all seven tournaments for the Aztecs this season. Junior transfer Ryan Citarella will be making his third consecutive start of the spring, while another transfer, sophomore Adam Porzak, gets the nod for the second straight week.
Also making the trip are senior Cory Segall and junior Chad Moscovic. Segall appeared in the Aztecs' first spring tournament at the John Burns Intercollegiate, Feb. 21-23, in Hawaii where he finished in a tie for 30th with a season-best total of 1-under 215. Moscovic, meanwhile, returns to the rotation for the first time since the Barona Collegiate Cup in October after teeing off as an individual at the Callaway Invitational last week.
Goldberg and Moscovic competed in last season's Lexus Classic, tying for seventh and 66th, respectively, while Segall (t-7th) and Puterbaugh (t-39th) also saw action as unattached golfers.
WEEKLY WRAP: THE SWEET TASTE OF VICTORY
- Buoyed by a pair of top-five individual finishes, San Diego State captured its second title of the season, March 6, at the Callaway Golf Invitational in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. The Aztecs shot a 3-over-par 867 over the three-round event, outpacing host school San Diego (+10) by seven strokes at the 6,920-yard, par-72 Farms Golf Club. With the victory, SDSU successfully defended its tournament crown from a year ago when it topped the same Torero squad by 12 strokes. Meanwhile, Cal Poly (+11), UC Davis (+14) and Nevada (+16) rounded out the top five in the team standings.
"I'm very proud of the way our players battled this week," Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan said. "This is a very challenging course up here, and for our guys to be just 3-over for the tournament is a testament to their resiliency and determination. Hopefully, we can maintain that same fight for the rest of the spring."
Leading the SDSU charge was Jamie Puterbaugh, who walked off the course in second place after carding a 2-under 70 over the final 18 holes for a combined total of 6-under 210. With his effort, the Carlsbad, Calif., native posted his highest career finish as an Aztec, ending the day just one stroke behind medalist Louie Bishop of UC Davis. Puterbaugh also snapped fellow teammate Aaron Goldberg's streak of six consecutive tournaments as SDSU's top finisher this season.
Goldberg was in contention as well, sitting in a tie for fourth place after the first two rounds. However, the Encinitas, Calif., product was unable to gain any ground on the final day, maintaining the same position following a third-round score of 1-under 71. Still, Goldberg notched his fourth top-five finish of the year with a combined 4-under 212, just one shot in back of Arkansas' Andrew Landry, who took third. San Diego State also received a pair of solid performances from Adam Porzak and Ryan Citarella as both players fired an even-par 72 on the final day. Porzak rebounded from a shaky second round to finish in a tie for 30th with a 6-over 222, while Citarella moved up five spots into a tie for 38th with a 9-over 225.
Chad Moscovic, who competed as an individual, finished the tournament in a tie for 36th after shooting a final-round 74 for a combined 8-over 224.
FLASHBACK: 2005 LEXUS CLASSIC
- Riding high after a victory in Pepperdine University's Club Glove Intercollegiate in October 2005, San Diego State seemed poised to capture its second straight tournament title two weeks later at the Fresno State Lexus Classic. After jumping out to a three-stroke lead through the first two rounds, however, the then 17th-ranked Aztecs experienced some difficulty on the final day and dropped to second place. SDSU shot a 14-over-par 298 over the final 18 holes to finish seven strokes behind first-place Denver at the 6,776-yard, par-71 San Joaquin Country Club.
The Scarlet and Black was led by Andrew Scott, who finished in a tie for sixth place with a 3-over-par 216. The Aztec senior was also the team's top golfer in SDSU's previous two appearances at the Lexus Classic, posting consecutive second-place finishes in 2003 and 2004.
Joining Scott in the top 10 were sophomore Aaron Goldberg and junior John Gray, as each player carded a 4-over 220 to finish tied for seventh.
Sophomore David Palm and senior Josh Warthen, who shared co-medalist honors in the Aztecs' earlier triumph at The Club Glove Intercollegiate, tied for 23rd with an 8-over 221.
GOLDBERG GOLDEN
- As a result of his stellar play during the fall season, Aaron Goldberg earned MWC Golfer of the Month honors in October and November, becoming the first SDSU player to capture the award in consecutive months since the conference's inception in 1999. The La Costa Canyon High alumnus was the Aztecs' top finisher in all five tournaments, completing 11 of 15 rounds below par. He also led the team with a 70.00 stroke average and four top-5 finishes, including the individual title at the District 7 Shootout. After finishing fourth in his second outing of the spring at the Callaway Golf Invitational, Goldberg enters this week ranked 50th in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin individual performance index released March 4.