Feb. 27, 2011
SDSU Tournament Notes at USC Collegiate Invitational in PDF Format
The 15th-ranked San Diego State men's golf team finishes out the month of February and begins the month of March by participating in the 15-team USC Collegiate Invitational in Westlake Village, Calif. The 54-hole event will take place at the par-71, 6,869-yard North Ranch Country Club and both days begin at 7:30 a.m. PT, with a shotgun start for Monday's two rounds and tee times for Tuesday's final 18.
The Aztecs are participating in the USC Collegiate, which started back in 1978, for the third season in a row and will look to improve on their disappointing 14th-place performance from a year ago. SDSU's competition for the 2011 edition includes 10 squads ranked in the top 50, including No. 1 UCLA, No. 17 Stanford, No. 18 USD, No. 21 Cal, No. 23 USC, No. 24 Washington, No. 30 Arizona State, No. 37 Michigan, No. 40 Pepperdine and No. 45 Oregon. Fellow MWC Conference member BYU, as well as Cal State Northridge, Fresno State and UC Davis round out the field.
This week's tournament features live scoring on golfstat.com for all three rounds, while daily recaps and results will be available on goaztecs.com.
Aztec Line-Up For This Week
San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan will take five golfers with him to the Los Angeles area this week, including a senior, two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman. Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden), Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.), J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.), Todd Baek (Auckland, New Zealand) and Tom Berry (New Haw, England) will all make the trip. Three of the five played in all five tournaments this year, while the other two each competed in four events.
Berry, Carlsson and Spaun all represented the Aztecs at the USC Intercollegiate last season.
Flashback: SDSU & The USC Collegiate
The San Diego State men's golf squad placed 14th overall at the 2010 USC Collegiate Invitational, finishing with a 22-over 874 at North Ranch Country Club.
Sophomore Andrew Cooley, who was competing as an individual, was the team's best finisher in 25th place with a 1-over 214. Then junior Johan Carlsson slipped to 33rd place after he fired a 74 to finish at 3-over 216, while Matt Hoffenberg was one stroke back in 41st place with a 217. Freshman Tom Berry was the fourth SDSU player in the top 50, tying for 46th at 6-over 219.
Sophomores Colin Featherstone and J.J. Spaun each fired their best 18 holes of the tournament in the final round, moving up to 60th and 67th place, respectively.
Rewind: Spaun Leads SDSU At Battle at the Beach
Junior J.J. Spaun posted his second consecutive sub-70 round to finish in fifth place on the individual leaderboard at 3-under 207 at the 54-hole the Battle at the Beach tournament in Newport Coast, Calif., Feb. 13-15. As a team, the Aztecs placed seventh place with a 29-over 1079, just two strokes out of sixth at the par-70, 6,900-yard The Resort at Pelican Hill.
Spaun was one of two SDSU players to post a final-round 68, and was one of only five in the 82-golfer field to finish the event under par.
Sophomore Tom Berry matched Spaun's final-round 68, highlighted by six birdies, and moved from 49th all the way into a tie for 23rd place at 6-over 216. Junior Colin Featherstone was the team's third-highest finisher coming in 35th with a 219, while Alex Kang ended up in 50th place.
Senior Johan Carlsson tied for 52nd with a 223, and freshman Todd Baek came in 62nd place with a 225, despite recording the team's only eagle of the tournament.
Up Next
The men's golf team continues its spring schedule with a trip to Fresno, Calif., for the Fresno State Lexus Golf Classic, March 7-8.
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.