April 3, 2014
Live Results
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team will compete in its penultimate tournament of the regular season this weekend when it travels to the Lone Star State for the Aggie Invitational, April 5-6, in Bryan, Texas. The two-day event gets underway Saturday with the first two rounds at the par-72, 7,146-yard Traditions Club, while the final 18 holes are scheduled to be completed on Sunday.
The highly competitive 12-team field features seven schools ranked among the top 50 in the latest Golfstat.com ratings index, including the No. 41 Aztecs, who will square off against second-ranked Oklahoma State, No. 3 California, host and 16th-ranked Texas A&M, No. 21 Arkansas, 25th-ranked LSU, No. 30 Kent State and 49th-ranked Texas Tech. SDSU will also battle the likes of Michigan, New Mexico State, North Texas and Pacific.
Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan will bring six golfers to Aggieland, featuring the starting lineup of junior Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.), freshman Ricky DeSantis (Carlsbad, Calif.), sophomore Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy), senior Austin Kaiser (Atascadero, Calif.) and freshman Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego, Calif.). In addition, junior James Holley (Chatsworth, Calif.) is slated to make the trip as an individual competitor.
Schauffele, who enters the weekend with a No. 60 national ranking by Golfstat, is currently fifth in the Mountain West with a team-leading 71.88 stroke average, while DeSantis (72.71) occupies the 12th slot, followed by Michelini (73.29) in the 17th position.
San Diego State has made two previous appearances in the Aggie Invitational, posting a fourth-place team finish in 2010 after tying for the same spot in 2009. Former Aztec Matt Hoffenberg (-2) tied for fourth individually in 2009 when the event was shortened to two rounds due to rain, while Tom Berry (-4) was SDSU's top player the following year, landing in a tie for the eighth.
The 2013 Aggie Invitational team champion Alabama, which boasted the tournament's three highest finishers, including medalist Cory Whitsett, will not be back to defend their titles, leaving last year's runner-up Kent State and its senior Corey Connors as this season's top returning team and individual, respectively. Texas A&M is tied with Oklahoma State for the most team championships, with the Aggies winning in 2010 and 2011 and the Cowboys claiming victories in 2005 and 2009.
The Traditions Club, which opened in 2004, has welcomed a trio of top-level collegiate events in its history, highlighted by the 2011 NCAA Division I Women's Championships, along with the 2010 Division I Men's South Central Regional and the 2006 Division I Women's Central Regional.
Following the Aggie Invitational, the Aztecs will participate in the historic Western Intercollegiate, hosted by San José State, April 12-13, at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif.