Sept. 13, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
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Coming off its ninth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance, the San Diego State men's golf team opens the 2007-08 season on Friday at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, N.M. The 54-hole season-opening tournament will be held at the par-72, 7,350-yard UNM Championship Course, recognized by Golf Digest as one of the top-25 public courses in the country. The event will start with 36 holes on Friday at 7:30 a.m. MDT and will conclude with the final 18 on Saturday, with tee times once again starting at 7:30 a.m.
The William H. Tucker Intercollegiate will be hosted by New Mexico for the 53rd consecutive season. In 2006, the Lobos took home the team and individual medalist honors. New Mexico finished one stroke ahead of BYU by carding a 874, while Lobo senior Charlie Beljan won by a stroke as well with a 6-under 210 over UNLV's Jarred Texter.
This year's Intercollegiate once again has a strong field. The team's competing for the title include Big 12 foes Baylor and Colorado, Arizona, Ohio State and Mountain West Conference rivals Air Force, BYU, Utah and Wyoming, along with Pepperdine and Tulsa.
Live stats will be available on Golfstat.com via GoLobos.com throughout the event.
This Week's Lineup
Head coach Ryan Donovan will take five golfers to compete this weekend, led by returning PING All-American Aaron Goldberg. The Encinitas, Calif., native is SDSU's top returning golfer from a year ago, boasting a 70.71 stroke average in 12 tournaments. Goldberg led the Aztecs with seven top-five tournaments, including capturing the District 7 Fall Shootout medalist honors last fall. He also finished under par in all but two of the tournaments he competed in. In addition, the three-time MWC Player of the Month was an All-MWC honoree.
The remaining four spots will be comprised of two veterans and two newcomers.
Returning to the lineup for the first time since the spring of 2006 is junior David Palm. Palm, who competed in 13 tournaments in 2005-06, redshirted last season. The former PING honorable mention All-American as a freshman had SDSU's third lowest scoring average (73.05) his sophomore campaign.
The other veteran performer in the Aztec lineup will be senior Jamie Puterbaugh. The Carlsbad, Calif., native battled injuries last season to compete in 12 events and finished third on the team with a 73.64 scoring average.
Rounding out the SDSU squad will be two newcomers in freshmen Matt Hoffenberg and Johan Carlsson. Hoffenberg, a native of Simi Valley, Calif., was the LA County Player of the Year at Royal High where he recorded the school's all-time lowest scoring average of 71.19 as a senior. Hoffenberg also was a U.S. Junior Amateur participant in 2006.
Carlsson comes to The Mesa as an experienced player on the Swedish professional golf tour. The Gothenberg, Sweden, native captured the Gambro Open and finished third in both the PGA Landmann Open and the Si-International on the Swedish Telia Tour.
Summer Wrap
Senior Aaron Goldberg joined an elite group of golfers this August that represented the U.S.A. at the World University Games at the Water Mill Golf and Gardens Club in Bangkok, Thailand. The PING All-American finished sixth in the international competition after shooting an even-par score of 288 over 54 holes. Goldberg tied fellow teammate Ryan Brehm of Michigan State for the highest finish by an American at this Olympic-style competition.
Senior Jamie Puterbaugh, also in August, captured his third straight San Diego City Amateur golf championship after shooting an even-par-72 during the final round of competition at the Torrey Pines South Golf Course.
Puterbaugh, who appeared in all 12 of the Aztecs' 2006-07 tournaments, overcame recent back spasms that kept him from playing golf most of the summer to claim a three-shot victory at 2-under 286 for four rounds played over the course of back-to-back weekends.
The Carlsbad, Calif., native became only the third three-time champion in the history of the San Diego City Amateur Championship. The last champion to win three straight titles was Pat Duncan Sr., who took home the crown four straight years from 1987-90, and nine times overall.