April 23, 2014
SDSU Tournament Notes | MW Championship Page | Live Results
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team will be aiming for its third conference title in the last four years this weekend when it travels to the desert for the Mountain West Championship, April 25-27, in Tucson, Ariz. For the eighth straight season, the 54-hole event will be contested on the par-71, 7,144-yard Catalina Course at the OMNI Tucson National Golf Club.
The 11-team field will play 18 holes on each of the three days, following a practice round on Thursday. The Aztecs, who have been idle since April 13, earned the No. 3 seed are slated to tee off with No. 4 Nevada and No. 5 Colorado State in the second group on Friday, starting at 7:50 a.m. PT, while the pairings for the final two rounds with be based on team standings. A live scoring link will be available courtesy of Golfstat on GoAztecs.com.
SDSU, which received a No. 37 national ranking in the latest Golfstat ratings, will be returning to the Catalina Course for the second time this season after tying for fourth place at the University of Arizona's National Invitational Tournament, March 14-16.
Aztec Lineup For This Week
San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan has adjusted his starting lineup this week to include junior James Holley (Atascadero, Calif.), who will join the usual mix of junior Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.), freshman Ricky DeSantis (Carlsbad, Calif.), sophomore Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy) and freshman Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego, Calif.) The combination comprised five-sixths of the SDSU delegation in the regular-season finale at the Western Intercollegiate.
Schauffele, Michelini and Holley will be appearing at the MW Championship for the second year in a row, joining first-time competitors DeSantis and Mendoza.
Schauffele, who ranks fourth in the conference with a team-best 71.77 scoring average, landed in the 42nd position nationally in this week's Golfstat Cup standings.
Aztecs At The MW Championship
In the 14-year history of the Mountain West, San Diego State has won two team championships, capturing back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012. The Aztecs also tied for the top spot in 2009, but lost in a team playoff to TCU after rallying from a five-stroke deficit in regulation.
In addition, SDSU has finished second six times (2013, 2010, 2009, 2006, 2003, 2001), placed fourth on three occasions (2005, 2004, 2002), came in fifth twice (2007, 2000) and ended up in the seventh position once (2008).
The Aztecs' best individual finish was recorded in 2001 when John Lepak posted a 3-over 219 to win by one stroke at Sunriver Resort in Oregon. SDSU's Adam Porzak also tied for first place in regulation in 2007, but came up just short in a one-hole playoff loss to Robby Ormand of TCU.
The Aztecs have routinely fared well individually at the MW tournament, placing one player among the top four in each of the last eight seasons and 13 times overall.
The Competition
Three of SDSU's opponents this week find themselves among the top 100 in the latest Golfstat rankings released April 23. New Mexico is the highest rated team, checking in at No. 23, followed by UNLV (29th) and Nevada (88th), while Colorado State (102nd) remains just outside the group. The Aztecs will also battle San José State (129th), Air Force (145th), Fresno State (155th), Wyoming (174th), Utah State (177th) and Boise State (178th).
SDSU owns a 10-5-1 record in head-to-head results against six conference adversaries during the 2013-14 campaign, including undefeated marks vs. San José State (4-0) and Wyoming (2-0). The Aztecs have also maintained the upper hand against Colorado State (2-1) this year and have split their encounters with New Mexico (1-1) and Fresno State (1-1). However, SDSU has come up empty this season vs. UNLV, posting an 0-2-1 ledger in three clashes with the Rebels. Ironically, the two sides tied for fourth place at the National Invitational Tournament held last month on the same Catalina Course. In addition, the Scarlet and Black will have their first look at Air Force, Boise State, Nevada and Utah State.
Individually, six of the top-10 finishers return from last year's conference championship, including the Aztecs' own Riccardo Michelini (4th) and Xander Schauffele (T-10th), along with Gavin Green of New Mexico (3rd), Air Force's Kyle Westmoreland (T-8th) and Kurt Kitiyama (T-8th) and Carl Jonson (T-10th) of UNLV.
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