Sept. 5, 2014
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team kicks off the 2014-15 season early next week when it participates in the Southwestern Intercollegiate, slated for Sept. 8-9, in Westlake Village, California. USC and Pepperdine will serve as co-hosts for the two-day 54-hole event, which will be conducted at the par-71, 6,964-yard North Ranch Country Club.
The first two rounds are slated to get underway on holes 1 and 10, starting Monday at 8 a.m. PT, while the final 18 holes are scheduled to be completed on Tuesday. A live scoring link will available through Golfstat on goaztecs.com
The Aztecs, who enter the year with a No. 21 ranking in the Golfweek/Sagarin top-30 preseason countdown, are one of 12 teams in the elite tournament field. In addition to the Trojans and Waves, SDSU will battle the likes of Arizona, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Northridge, Hartford, Loyola Marymount, Stanford, UC Davis, USD and Washington State in its season opener.
Under the direction of 12th-year head coach Ryan Donovan, the Aztecs return all four of their core starters from a year ago, including senior Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.), who captured all-West Region honors after posting a team-leading five top-five finishes in 2013-14. The Scripps Ranch High alumnus also garnered all-Mountain West accolades for the second straight season after topping the squad with a 71.61 stroke average, which ranked third in the conference. Schauffele, who won the California State Amateur Championship in June, ended the summer at No. 19 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking.
In addition, SDSU welcomes back its other two all-MW performers from last year in sophomore Ricky DeSantis (Carlsbad, Calif.) and junior Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy). DeSantis, became the fourth Aztec golfer to claim MW Freshman of the Year honors after posting a 72.59 scoring average during the 2013-14 campaign, which ranked 10th in the league. Michelini (72.88), meanwhile, was the Aztecs' top player in three tournaments last season including the MW Championship, where he tied for first in regulation before falling in a sudden-death playoff.
Also in the mix is sophomore Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego, Calif.), who started eight of the team's nine tournaments last spring, highlighted by a fifth-place individual finish at the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic in March. Mendoza, who recorded a 74.41 stroke average in his debut campaign for the Scarlet and Black, is coming off a successful summer that featured a victory in the San Diego City Amateur Championship.
Joining the aforementioned Aztec quartet to the San Fernando Valley next week is senior James Holley (Chatsworth, Calif.), who earned a start in the final three events of the 2013-14 season. Holley was one of four SDSU players to crack the top-20 last year at the Mountain West Championship, where he tied for 15th at 4-over 217. Earlier in the spring, he posted his first collegiate victory at the WIU/Carlton Oaks Invitational after competing as an unattached golfer.
In addition, junior Michael Koeneke (San Diego, Calif.)and freshman PJ Samiere (Kailua, Hawaii) will see action as individuals.
The Aztecs have witnessed success recently on the North Ranch Country Club fairways, having claimed the team title at the course in February of 2012, when they competed at the North Ranch Intercollegiate. During that visit, former Aztec Matt Hoffenberg collected medalist honors after edging teammate Alex Kang by two shots.
In 2013, the Scarlet and Black placed fifth in the team standings, led by Michelini, who tied for seventh on the individual leaderboard.
Following the Southwestern Intercollegiate, San Diego State will have two weeks off before returning to the tee box for the Kikkor Husky Invitational, set for Sept. 22-23, at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.