March 13, 2012
The 15th-ranked San Diego State men's golf team won its second consecutive title by posting a tournament-low 284 in the final round Tuesday at the 2012 The Farms Collegiate Invitational in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. The Aztecs, who led by five strokes entering the final 18 holes, ended up winning the event by 12 strokes over Saint Mary's with a 2-under 862 at the par-72, 6,974-yard The Farms Golf Club.
"I told the guys before we started that the team that makes the least amount of mistakes will win," said SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan. "With the experience of our team, we know to play the percentages and not always attack (the course) when we don't need to. They played pretty disciplined golf considering the difficulty of this course."
The Aztecs had two of the top three golfers and five of their seven total players finish in the top 12 on the individual leaderboard. Senior All-American J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) rallied to earn his first title of the season and the third of his career, jumping from fourth place and making up an amazing five-stroke deficit to win by two strokes with a 4-under 212, including a 68 in the final 18 holes.
SDSU senior Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) remained in second place with a 72, tying day one leader Anders Engell of Saint Mary's with a 2-under 214. The runner-up performance is Kang's second in a row after also doing so at the North Ranch Intercollegiate in late February. He has three top-five finishes this season and has been in the top 20 in four of six events.
Junior Tom Berry (New Haw, England) moved up six slots in the final standings with his 1-under 71 to end up in a tie for sixth place at 2-over 218, along with teammate Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.). Senior Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.), who is competing as an individual, slipped from sixth into a tie for 12th with a 5-over 221, while newcomer Cameron Tennant (Woodland Hills, Calif.) also dropped back from 17th into 32nd with a 13-over 229.
SDSU freshman Wilson Bateman (Edmonton, Alberta) improved for the second round in a row, carding a 77 to make the team's largest jump on the leaderboard from 59th into a tie for 48th with a 22-over 238.
The Aztecs will only have two days off before participating in their second tournament this week, the National Invitational Tournament, at the Omni Tucson National Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz., March 16-17.
2012 The Farms Collegiate Invitational
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. - The Farms Golf Club (Par-72, 6,947 yards)
Final Results 54 Holes
Team Scoring (Top 5 of 14 teams)
1 San Diego State 292-286-284-862 (-2)2 Saint Mary's 295-288-291-874 (+10)3 Missouri 294-301-298-893 (+29) UC Irvine 295-301-297-893 (+29)5 SMU 299-302-297-898 (+34)
Top Three Individuals (Top 4 of 78 players)1 J.J. Spaun, San Diego State 72-72-68-212 (-4)2 Alex Kang, San Diego State 69-73-72-214 (-2) Anders Engell, Saint Mary's 68-71-75-214 (-2)4 Mac McClung, Saint Mary's 76-70-69-215 (-1)
Other San Diego State GolfersT6 Tom Berry 77-70-71-218 (+2)T6 Matt Hoffenberg 74-71-73-218 (+2)T12 Colin Featherstone* 71-74-76-221 (+5)32 Cameron Tennant* 73-76-80-229 (+13)T48 Wilson Bateman 83-78-77-238 (+22)*=competing as an individual