March 15, 2013
SAN DIEGO - Fresh off its first team title of the season, the San Diego State men's golf squad looks to build on its momentum this weekend when it competes in the 2013 Don Puckette National Invitational Tournament, March 16-17, in Tucson, Ariz. The two-day, 54-hole event gets underway on Saturday at 8 a.m. MST with a shotgun start at the par-72, 7,094-yard Omni Tucson National Golf Club.
The Aztecs, who won the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic last Tuesday, are among a field of 16 teams at the 10th annual tournament, which features seven teams ranked in the top 40 according to the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index. Headlining the group are No. 3 New Mexico, No. 8 TCU, No. 13 Oklahoma State, No. 18 SMU, No. 19 Arkansas, No. 27 Texas A&M and No. 37 UNLV, while Hawai'i, Long Beach State, Nevada, New Mexico State, the University of San Diego, UTEP, Wyoming and host Arizona round out the list.
SDSU will be paired with TCU, New Mexico State and Arkansas for the first two rounds on Saturday, while the final 18 holes will feature tee times on Sunday. Live scoring will be available courtesy of Golfstat on goaztecs.com.
Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan will bring six golfers to the desert, featuring the starting lineup of senior Tom Berry (New Haw, England), sophomore Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.), freshman Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy) and juniors James Holley (Chatsworth, Calif.) and Austin Kaiser (Atascadero, Calif.). In addition, freshman Robert Gojuangco (San Diego, Calif.) will compete as an individual.
Schauffele posted his highest collegiate finish at the San Diego Classic, tying for third at 4-under 212, while Kaiser (-2) and Berry (-1) followed closely behind in the sixth and seventh spots, respectively, to propel the Scarlet and Black to the team title.
The Aztecs are also the defending National Invitational Tournament champions after recording a collective 5-under 859 on the same course last year to edge UNLV (-4) by one stroke, while SMU (-1) finished in third, four strokes in back. SDSU also boasted the individual winner in J.J. Spaun, who fired a combined 15-under 201 on rounds of 67-66-68. Berry, who is the lone veteran returning to the Omni Tucson course, tied for 52nd at 14-over 230.
The Aztecs will be back in action at the Stanford Invitational, March 28-30, in Stanford, Calif.