May 31, 2011
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State men's golfers Todd Baek (Auckland, New Zealand), Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) and J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) have each been named to the Division I PING All-West Region team, the Golf Coaches Association of America announced Tuesday evening. The trio becomes the first Aztecs so honored since four players were tabbed the first year the award was handed out in 2008.
SDSU's three selections this season tied as the most by any squad in the West region along with second-ranked UCLA. Overall 17 schools were represented in the West, while 152 total players were honored across six regions - Northeast, East, Southeast, Midwest, Central and West.
A Rancho Bernardo High product, Baek has played in 12 of the team's 13 tournaments in his first collegiate season. He has logged seven top-20 finishes, including six in the top 10, is fourth on the squad in stroke average (72.25) and first in count percentage (88.9). Baek's best performance of the campaign came at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in October when he became one of just two Aztecs to ever break the 200-barrier in a 54-hole tournament with his 15-under 198 to tie for second place. More recently, he tied for seventh at the NCAA regional in Tucson earlier this month with a 4-under 209.
Kang took over the team lead in season stroke average just recently with his 71.56 mark. He is ranked as high as 55th nationally by golfstat.com and has placed in the top 20 in 11 of his 13 events this season. The junior carded a school-record low of 16-under 197 to garner medalist honors at the Alister MacKenzie Invite and has been the Aztecs' top performer in five events in 2010-11. He came in fourth at both the MWC and NCAA Tucson Regional championships combining for five sub-par rounds and was named an all-conference pick for the first time in his career.
A two-time all-league honoree, Spaun is the second SDSU student-athlete to log a tournament victory this year, winning the ASU Thunderbird Invitational for the second year in a row with a 7-under 206. He has the team's best stroke average during the spring campaign of 71.00 and has six top-10 performances in 13 tournaments overall. A junior, Spaun earned back-to-back MWC player-of-the-month awards in February and March and was selected as the Golfweek national player of the week on April 11, following his victory in Tempe, Ariz.
Back in 2008, current Aztec senior Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) was named to the PING Southwest All-Region team, along with Aaron Goldberg, Matt Hoffenberg and David Palm.
San Diego State, under eighth-year head coach Ryan Donovan, is currently completing its first round of the 2011 NCAA championships in Stillwater, Okla. The Aztecs have already put together one of the greatest seasons in program history with seven tournament victories which ranks second in the nation. SDSU has been ranked as high as fourth in the country and won its' first-ever Mountain West Conference and NCAA regional titles.
2010-11 PING All-West Region Team
Todd Baek, San Diego StateZachary Blair, BYUPatrick Cantlay, UCLAAlex Ching, San DiegoNick Delio, Cal State NorthridgeDerek Ernst, UNLVStephen Hale, CaliforniaMatt Hansen, UC DavisMax Homa, CaliforniaCharlie Hughes, WashingtonAlex Kang, San Diego StateSteve Lim, Southern CaliforniaTimothy Madigan, New Mexico StateGregor Main, UCLADaniel Miernicki, OregonAlex Moore, Oregon StateRyan Peterson, Colorado StateScott Pinckney, Arizona StateAndrew Putnam, PepperdineJ.J. Spaun, San Diego StateMartin Trainer, Southern CaliforniaAndrew Vijarro, OregonPontus Widegren, UCLAChris Williams, WashingtonAndrew Yun, Stanford