May 13, 2016
SDSU Tournament Notes | Live Results
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team embarks on its quest for postseason glory next week when it travels to the Land of Enchantment to compete in the NCAA Albuquerque Regional, May 16-18, in Albuquerque, N.M. The 22nd-ranked Aztecs, who are making their 18th consecutive regional appearance and 21st overall, will be among the field vying for a spot in the NCAA national championship series, scheduled for May 27-June 1 in Eugene, Ore.
SDSU received the No. 4 seed out of 14 teams in the Albuquerque Regional, earning one of 50 at-large bids to the NCAA tournament after tying for fourth at the Mountain West Championship on April 24. A total of 81 NCAA Division I schools received invitations to play in one of six regional events that will be held concurrently this week in Marana, Ariz. (Arizona), Albuquerque, N.M. (New Mexico), Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State), Kohler, Wis. (Marquette), Franklin, Tenn. (Vanderbilt) and Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Alabama).
Joining the Aztecs on the par-72, 7,555-yard UNM South Championship Course this week will be 13 other teams, including seven foes ranked in the Golfstat top 50, along with five individual competitors (75 golfers overall). The top five squads and low individual not on an advancing team will move on to nationals from each of the six regionals.
Teams will complete 18 holes (54 total) of stroke play each of the three days, following a practice round on Sunday, May 15. SDSU will be paired with Texas A&M and North Carolina State for Monday's first round, which is set to get underway from the No. 10 tee at 8:20 a.m. MT (7:20 a.m. PT), while starting times for Tuesday and Wednesday will be determined by team finishes.
Live hole-by-hole results courtesy of Golfstat will be available for all three rounds on GoAztecs.com.
Aztec Regional Lineup
For the just the second tournament this year, San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan will utilize the starting lineup of Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego, Calif.), Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy), Ryann Ree (Redondo Beach, Calif.), PJ Samiere (Kailua, Hawaii) and Gunn Yang (Pyeongchang, South Korea). The combination was employed last March at the Lamkin San Diego Classic, where the Aztecs placed third out of 15 teams.
Michelini will be making his fourth consecutive regional appearance, while Mendoza finds himself in the thick of fight for the third year in row, joining two-time participants Ree and Samiere. That leaves Yang, the 2014 U.S. Amateur champion, as the lone SDSU newcomer to postseason play.
At the New Haven Regional last year, Michelini (t-17th), Samiere (t-22nd) and Ree (t-25th) finished within two strokes of one another, helping the Aztecs to a second-place standing and advance to the national championships in Bradenton, Fla.
Mendoza, who owns a team-best 70.48 scoring average, enters the tournament ranked 14th nationally in the latest Golfstat individual ratings, while Ree checks in a No. 50, followed closely by Michelini at No. 54.
Aztecs At NCAA Regionals
Since the NCAA regional format was adopted in 1989, SDSU has received a bid on 21 occasions, including a current streak of 18 straight from 1999 to 2016. However, this year marks third consecutive season in which the Aztecs will participate in a regional event outside of the Pacific time zone after traveling to Columbia, Mo., and New Haven, Conn., in 2014 and 2015, respectively.
SDSU has advanced through regional competition into the national championship series on seven occasions, including last year when the Scarlet and Black finished second at The Course at Yale. The Aztecs captured the team title at OMNI Tucson National Golf Club in 2011, posting the program's lowest combined score in regional play with a 19-under 833 en route to a seven-stroke victory.
The following season at Stanford Golf Course in 2012, SDSU turned in a second-place finish, marking the last time the Aztecs qualified for the NCAA finals in consecutive years. Two-time All-American J.J. Spaun set three team regional records at Stanford, including lowest score (12-under 198), lowest round (7-under 63) and best individual finish (2nd). The record for best single round by an SDSU golfer at a regional was previously held by Magnus Carlsson, who shot a 6-under 66 in 1999.
The Competition
The Aztecs are one of eight teams in the Albuquerque Regional ranked among the top 50 in the latest Golfstat rankings released May 11. Of those squads, five reside in the top 30, including No. 3 USC, followed by Arizona State (11), South Florida (15), SDSU (22) and Texas A&M (27). The Aztecs own a 9-8 record in head-to-head results against eight of their regional foes during the 2015-16 campaign, including unblemished marks vs. Iowa (2-0), South Florida (1-0), Texas A&M (1-0) and TCU (1-0). SDSU has also maintained the upper hand this year against Arizona State (3-2), but has come up short against USC (1-2), Texas Tech (0-1) and New Mexico (0-3).
A Look At The Course
San Diego State is no stranger to the UNM South Championship Course, having competed in the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in eight of the last 11 years and 13 times overall. Last September, the Aztecs posted a fifth-place team finish at the venue as Gunn Yang (-3) tied for sixth on the individual leaderboard. SDSU has played the course twice in regional competition, finishing 18th in 1995, followed by a 10th-place tie in 2002.
Opened in 1967, UNM South Championship Course maintains a course rating of 75.2 from the back tees with a slope of 134. In addition to this year's regional, the par-72, 7,555-yard layout has played host to the NCAA Men's Golf Championships in 1976, 1992 and 1998, as well as the NCAA Women's Golf Championships in 1987 and 2008. The course will also serve as a women's regional site in 2017.
In 2014, UNM South was ranked seventh on Golfweek's list of "Best Courses You Can Play State-by-State" and No. 21 among the publication's "Best Campus Courses." The Robert (Red) Lawrence design features blue and rye grass on the fairways and a mix of bent grass and Poa Annua on the greens.
Just A Chip Shot Away
The top five schools and two individuals (not on those qualifying teams) will advance out of the Albuquerque Regional to the NCAA championships, May 27-June 1, at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore. The Aztecs have qualified for the national championships 28 times in school history, including seven occasions (1999, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015) since the regional format made its debut.
A total of 30 teams and six individuals will play 54 holes of stroke play over a three-day period to determine the individual national champion. The final three days will feature match play between the top eight squads for the national team title.