Oct. 17, 2010
SDSU Tournament Notes in PDF Format
SDSU Men's Golf Concludes Short 2010 Fall Schedule
Over two weeks removed its come-from-behind victory at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, the San Diego State men's golf team concludes its short, three-tournament 2010 fall campaign this week at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational, Oct. 18-19. The Aztecs will play 36 holes on Monday, followed by the final 18 on Tuesday at the par-71, 6,708-yard Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif.
SDSU, which has finished in the top three of each of its fall events, will be among a highly competitive field of 16 schools, including five foes ranked in the top 50 nationally. The Aztecs are the highest rated team, sitting at No. 15 by Golfstat.com and No. 19 by Golfweek/Sagarin. Two other Mountain West Conference schools will also be in the mix in New Mexico and Colorado State, as will Pac-10 members Oregon, Oregon State and Cal, which is the tournament host.
San Diego State has played at the Alister MacKenzie twice previously, taking sixth last season in a rain-shortened event and winning the 2007 edition. The tournament started back in 2002, but skipped the 2008 campaign.
First day action gets underway at 8:15 a.m. PT with a shotgun start, while the second day begins with tee times as early as 8 a.m. Live results will be available for all three rounds on golfstat.com.
Aztec Line-Up For This Week
San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan will take five golfers with him to the Bay Area next week, including three juniors, a sophomore and a freshman. Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.), J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.), Tom Berry (New Haw, England), Todd Baek (Auckland, New Zealand) and Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.) will all make the trip. Four of the five have played in both the Aztecs' earlier fall tournaments, while Featherstone competed individually in Albuquerque earlier this month.
Noticeably missing from the line-up is the team's lone senior, Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden), who will skip this week's event.
Flashback: SDSU & The Alister MacKenzie
San Diego State participates in the Alister MacKenzie for the second year in a row and the third time in the tournament's previous seven years.
In 2009, the final 18 holes were canceled due to rain with then Aztec junior Johan Carlsson trailing Cal's Stephen Hale by a mere one stroke with a 36-hole total of 10-under 132.
After carding an opening-round 68, Carlsson vaulted into second with six birdies and no bogeys for a career-low 65, to tie for the third-best round in Aztec program history.
J.J. Spaun actually led the team after the first 18 holes with a then career-low 67, including an eagle on the par-5 first hole and four birdies. Spaun, however, slipped from fourth into a tie for 19th, after carding a 73 in the second round.
SDSU's Tyler Morris (Encinitas, Calif.) was the team's third golfer to be at even or under par through 36 holes, as he recorded an even-par 142 to tie for 31st place. Sophomore Andrew Cooley tied for 51st place with a 5-over 147, while freshman Tom Berry tied for 57th at 6-over 148.
Back in 2007, the Aztecs overcame an 11-stroke deficit with only 18 holes to play to claim the team title at the Alister Mackenzie. SDSU had three players shoot under par in the final day and won the event by four strokes over Washington with a final round 8-under 276.
Aaron Goldberg led the way with a third-place finish and a 9-under 204, just one stroke better than Johan Carlsson, who posted an 8-under 205 to tie for fourth. David Palm was the third Aztec in the top 10, carding a 5-under 208, highlighted by a final-round 67.
Rewind: Aztecs Rally For Tucker Intercollegiate Title
Having finished second in each of its last two appearances at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, the San Diego State men's golf team was determined to capture the title this season, rallying from a seven-stroke deficit with only 18 holes remaining to jump from fourth all the way to first place at the par-72, 7,566-yard University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course, Oct. 1-2.
The Aztecs won the second-oldest men's college golf tournament in the country (56th year) by posting a final-round 291, ending up one stroke better than North Texas and two in front of the host Lobos with a 54-hole total of 10-over 874.
SDSU's final round 291 matched its first-round effort in Albuquerque and was the second-best in the 16-team field on the final day. The Aztecs, however, were eight strokes better than day-one leader North Texas, five ahead of second place New Mexico and 13 less than third place and 20th-ranked Pepperdine.
San Diego State had all six of its golfers place in the top 26 in the 88-player field. Junior Alex Kang recorded his second, top-10 finish in as many chances this season, carding a final round 77 to tie for seventh at 1-over 217. Redshirt junior Colin Featherstone, who was competing as an individual, matched Kang's 217, following up his seven-birdie, second-round 65 with a 2-over 74, in his first tournament of the 2010-11 season.
SDSU senior Johan Carlsson tied for 12th place, coming in at 4-over 220. Sophomore Tom Berry jumped from 43rd to 21st place after the final 18 with a 223. Freshman Todd Baek and junior J.J. Spaun each tied for 26th place with a 224.
Up Next
The men's golf team is off until the 2011 spring campaign, opening at the end of January in Arizona.
Head Coach Ryan Donovan
Head coach Ryan Donovan is in his eighth season at the helm of the SDSU golf program after serving as an assistant in 2003. A native of Yorba Linda, Calif., he was a four-year member of the Aztec golf squad, before graduating in 2001.
Donovan recently signed a new three-year contract, which will keep him at his alma mater at least until 2012-13.