April 30, 2015
SDSU Tournament Notes |MW Championship Central | Live Results
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team will be aiming for its third conference title in the last five years this weekend when it travels to the desert for the Mountain West Championship, May 1-3, in Tucson, Ariz. For the ninth 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 12, earned the No. 3 seed are slated to tee off with No. 4 Colorado State and No. 5 San Jose 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. 32 national ranking in the latest Golfstat ratings, will be returning to the Catalina Course for the second time this season after finishing sixth at the University of Arizona's National Invitational Tournament, Feb. 28-March 2.
Aztec Lineup for the Week
San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan has adjusted his starting lineup this week to include junior Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy), who will join the usual mix of senior Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.), junior Ryann Ree (Redondo Beach, Calif.), sophomore Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego, Calif.) and freshman PJ Samiere (Kailua, Hawaii). The combination comprised five-sixths of the SDSU delegation in the regular-season finale at the Western Intercollegiate.
Michelini, who appeared in just two tournaments during the spring due in part to an ailing foot, will be making his third straight appearance at the MW Championship along with Schauffele, while Mendoza will be playing for the second year in a row, joining first time participants Ree and Samiere.
Schauffele, who ranks fourth in the conference with a team-best 70.85 scoring average, landed in the 22nd position nationally in this week's Golfstat Cup standings.
The Competition
Three of SDSU's opponents this week find themselves among the top 100 in the latest Golfstat rankings released April 29. New Mexico is the highest rated team, checking in at No. 22, followed by UNLV (31) and Colorado State (95), while San José State (103) remains just outside the group. The Aztecs will also battle Nevada (119), Utah State (141), Fresno State (145), Boise State (167) Wyoming (186) and Air Force (209).
SDSU owns a 14-3 record in head-to-head results against seven conference adversaries during the 2014-15 campaign, posting undefeated marks vs. San José State (4-0), Wyoming (3-0), Colorado State (2-0), Nevada (2-0), Fresno State (1-0) and UNLV (1-0). New Mexico is the lone conference school to maintain the upper hand against the Aztecs this year, posting a 3-1 ledger, including a higher finish (2 vs. 6) at the National Invitational Tournament held in March on the same Catalina Course. In addition, the Scarlet and Black will have their first look at Air Force, Boise State and Utah State.
Individually, eight of the top-10 finishers return from last year's conference tournament, including the Aztecs' own Riccardo Michelini (T-1st), who fell to UNM's Gavin Green in a sudden-death playoff. In addition, Carl Jonson of UNLV (3rd) finds himself in the mix once again, along with SDSU's Xander Schauffele (T-5th), Sean Romero (T-7th) and Sam Saunders (T-10th) of New Mexico, the Aztecs' Nahum Mendoza (T-10th) and Dominic Kieffer of Colorado State (T-10th).
San José State's Cody Blick and Jon Oda of UNLV, who own the league's second and third-best scoring averages this season, respectively, are expected to contend as well, along with SDSU's Ryann Ree and PJ Samiere, Gustavo Morantes and Andrej Bevins of New Mexico, UNLV's Kurt Kitayama and Shintaro and Blake Cannon of Colorado State, all whom find themselves among the top 20 in the Mountain West rankings.
Aztecs At The Mountain West Championship
In the 15-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 seven times (2014, 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 on the individual leaderboard at the MW tournament, placing one player among the top four in each of the last nine seasons and 14 times overall.
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