Sept. 16, 2012
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team begins its season Monday, Sept. 17, at the two-day Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational in Bremerton, Wash., hosted by the University of Washington. The Aztecs are one of 14 teams at the par-72, 7,124-yard Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.
The 54-hole tournament will be played over two days, with 36 holes on Monday and the remaining 18 on Tuesday. Team play will be held on the Olympic course, while the individual championship will be held on the Cascade Course. Live stats will be available on www.golfstat.com.
SDSU enters the year ranked No. 17 in the Golf World/Nike Golf Division I preseason men's coaches' poll, coming off last season where it reached the NCAA quarterfinals. SDSU claimed the win in five tournaments a year ago and are the two-time reigning MW champions.
Tenth-year head coach Ryan Donovan will bring to the Pacific Northwest the lone Aztec veteran in the lineup, senior Tom Berry. The New Haw, Surrey, England native is the team's top returner this season after posting a top-5, three top-10 and seven top-20 performances a year ago and is the lone member of Monday's lineup that played during the NCAA championships last season. Newcomers sophomore Xander Schauffele, sophomore James Holley, freshman Riccardo Michelini and junior Austin Kaiser will all make the trip. Individual players will include freshmen Bobby Gojuangco, Kevin Ko and Gunn Yang.
This will be the eighth time the Aztecs have competed in the tournament since 2000. SDSU was scheduled to compete in the Husky Invitational last season, but the event was cancelled due to rain. In 2010, SDSU came in third place with a 54-hole total of 5-under 859, highlighted by a final-round score of 283. The Aztecs had three players finish in the top 20, including Alex Kang (3-under 213), Todd Baek (even par) and Johan Carlsson (2-over 218). Berry finished 33rd overall.
Also competing in the tournament are Arizona State, BYU, UC-Davis, Gonzaga, Loyola-Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Pacific, Pepperdine, Seattle University, St. Mary's, Texas A&M and Washington State.