April 23, 2008
SAN DIEGO -
SDSU Men's Golf Weekly Release in PDF Format
AZTEC MEN'S GOLF GEARS UP FOR MWC CHAMPIONSHIPS
* The San Diego State men's golf team begins its pursuit of a berth in the NCAA championship series this week when it returns to Tucson, Ariz., for the Mountain West Conference Championships, April 24-26, at the famed Omni Tucson National Golf Resort. The 54-hole tournament will contested with one round on each of the three days at the 7,136-yard, par-71 Catalina Course.
The Aztecs are scheduled to tee off with UNLV and TCU on Thursday beginning at 7 a.m. PT, while the pairings for the final two rounds will be based on team standings. A live scoring link will be available on the home page of GoAztecs.com.
THE COMPETITION
* The 33rd-ranked Aztecs are one of five Mountain West Conference teams to appear in the top 100 of the latest Golfweek/Sagarin performance index released April 21. No. 15 UNLV is the league's highest-ranked squad in the poll, followed by SDSU (33), TCU (57), Colorado State (85) and Brigham Young (90). The nine-team field also includes Air Force, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
FOR THE RECORD: AZTECS VS. THE FIELD
* SDSU will be vying for its fourth team title of the season when it hits the fairways in the Grand Canyon State. The Aztecs claimed the top spot at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in October before hoisting trophies at the Fresno State Lexus Classic and Oregon Duck Invitational last month. The Scarlet and Black has also recorded a top-five finish in five of its other eight 54-hole tournaments and enters the week with a sparkling 136-29-1 record (.822 pct.) in head-to-head competition. SDSU has faced the other eight conference teams at least once this season, posting an impressive 21-3 mark. New Mexico has been SDSU's most frequent MWC opponent during the 2007-08 regular season, squaring off against the Scarlet and Black six times, while the Aztecs have faced Colorado State just once. Below is a capsule look at how San Diego State has fared against its league rivals this season.
SDSU vs. the MWC in 2007-08
Air Force (2-0)
BYU (5-0)
Colorado State (0-1)
New Mexico (6-0)
TCU (2-0)
UNLV (0-2)
Utah (3-0)
Wyoming (3-0)
Total (21-3)
BACK SPIN: SDSU IN MWC CHAMPIONSHIPS
* The Aztecs have never come away with the team crown in the eight-year history of the MWC Championships, finishing second on three occasions in 2001, 2003 (tie) and 2006. SDSU managed fourth-place showing in 2004 and 2005, while ending up in the fifth spot in 2000 and 2007.
Despite having two golfers place in the top six on the individual leaderboard, the Aztecs finished in a disappointing fifth last season at 11-over 863, a distant 17 shots behind Brigham Young (-6), which ended New Mexico's four-year run of league supremacy.
Then-sophomore Adam Porzak fell short in his quest for the individual title, falling to TCU's Robby Ormand on the first sudden-death playoff hole. Porzak, who is utilizing his redshirt season this year, fired a final-round 71 en route to a collegiate-best 6-under 207 to tie Ormand at the end of regulation. Porzak's total also established a new school record for lowest score in a 54-hole conference tournament, previously set by Mark Warman in 2004. However, the Poway High alumnus was unable to recover from an errant tee shot on the first playoff hole as Ormand sank a six-foot putt to walk away with medalist honors.
Meanwhile, Aaron Goldberg carded a 69 over the final 18 holes to jump from 11th into a tie for sixth at 2-under 211. Goldberg drained four birdies on the front nine during the third round to climb into contention, but an untimely bogey at No. 11 derailed his momentum.
Other Aztecs to excel at the MWC Championships include John Lepak, who garnered medalist honors for the Scarlet and Black as a junior in 2001, while Warman finished second in 2002 and 2004.
THIS WEEK'S LINEUP
* Head coach Ryan Donovan hasn't had to reach for a pencil to fill out a new lineup card since January, electing to utilize the same starting five for the seventh straight tournament. event. Sitting atop the Aztecs' ladder is senior extraordinaire Aaron Goldberg, who will be joined by fellow classmate Chad Moscovic, junior David Palm and freshmen deluxe Johan Carlsson and Matt Hoffenberg. Goldberg leads the squad with an overall 71.47 stroke average, followed closely by Hoffenberg (71.75), Palm (72.66) and Carlsson (72.79), while Moscovic (75.43) ranks sixth on the team.
Of the group, Goldberg, Moscovic and Palm all have playing experience on the renowned Catalina Course. As mentioned earlier, Goldberg carded a 2-under 211 to finish sixth in last year's MWC Championships, while Moscovic tied for 36th in the 45-golfer field at 16-over 229. In 2006, the course featured a par-72 layout for the NCAA West Regionals where Goldberg and Palm posted the Aztecs' two highest finishes as both players tied for 46th at 2-under 214.
A LOOK AT THE COURSE
* For the second straight year, the Mountain West Conference Championships will be held on the Catalina Course at the Omni Tucson National Golf Resort & Spa. Designed by Robert Van Hagge and Bruce Devlin, the Catalina Course is known for its magnificent views, traditional parkland-style layout and tree-lined fairways. Nestled in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains, the course also includes eight sparkling lakes and 80 bunkers, while the 18th hole is considered to be one of the finest and most challenging finishing holes on the PGA Tour. Home to numerous NCAA events and the PGA's prestigious Chrysler Classic of Tucson, the Tucson National has been selected as one of Golf Digest magazine's "75 Best Golf Resorts in North America."
GOLDBERG NAMED TO NICKLAUS WATCH LIST
* Senior Aaron Goldberg was one of 20 Division I golfers named to the 2008 Jack Nicklaus Award watch list as announced by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) on April 8. The Nicklaus Award is presented to the player of the year in NCAA Divisions I, II and III, as well as the NAIA.
Goldberg, a 2007 honorable mention All-American and two-time all-league performer, leads the MWC with a 71.47 stroke average this season among players who have completed at least 32 rounds. The Encinitas, Calif., native also captured back-to-back MWC men's golfer of the month accolades in February and March, giving him five monthly awards for his career. Goldberg, who garnered MWC golfer of the month honors on three occasions during the 2006-07 campaign, is ranked 14th in the latest GolfStat Cup standings released April 15.
The Nicklaus Award recipients will be named immediately following the final round of each respective national championship. All four Nicklaus Award honorees will be invited to Muirfield Village for the final round of the Memorial Tournament presented by Morgan Stanley at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, just outside Nicklaus' hometown of Columbus to receive their trophies from Mr. Nicklaus. Additionally, a 20-player All-Nicklaus Team - which will include outstanding players from NCAA Divisions I, II and III and the NAIA - will be named June 10.
JUST A CHIP SHOT AWAY
* 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 likely head to the NCAA West Regionals, May 15-17, at Gold Mountain Golf Course in Bremerton, Wash. The other two regional sites are located at the Council Fire Golf Club in Chattanooga, Tenn., (East) and Scarlet Golf Course in Columbus, Ohio (Central).
Each of the three regional tournaments will include 27 teams and six individuals not among those qualifying schools. The participants will be selected by the NCAA men's golf committee and announced early in May. The top 10 teams and two individuals not among those squads from each region will advance to the NCAA championships, May 28-31, at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex in West Lafayette, Ind.
HOFFENBERG MAKING IT HAPPEN
* Matt Hoffenberg has made tremendous progress in his rookie campaign as the Aztec freshman leads the team this spring with a 71.17 stroke average through eight events. After four starts last fall in which his best showing was a tie for 19th, Hoffenberg has placed no worse than 17th in eight outings this spring. The talented lefty has also been SDSU's top finisher in three of the last five tournaments, including the Fresno State Lexus Classic, where he tied for first after regulation play before falling in a sudden-death playoff to Charlie Holland of Texas.