Men's Golf

SDSU Men's Golf Looks For First MWC Championship This Week

April 30, 2003

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THIS WEEK'S EVENT
2003 MWC Championship
Hosted by: Mountain West Conference
Site: Crosswater Course - Sunriver Resort, Ore.
Dates: May 1-3
Par: 72
Yardage: 6,180
The Field: SDSU, Air Force, BYU, Colorado State, New Mexico, UNLV, Utah, Wyoming
2002 Team Champion: UNLV (867, +3)
2002 Medallist: Martin Laird, Colorado State (212, -4)

SDSU Men's Golf Looks For First MWC Championship This Week

  • With an NCAA Regional selection all but secured, the San Diego State men's golf team could eliminate any doubt about its postseason plans by winning its first Mountain West Conference title this week. The winner of the eight-team MWC Championship, played May 1-3 at the Sunriver Resort's Crosswater Course in Oregon, receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals. Tee time is set for 9:30 a.m. each day.

The Field: At A Glance

  • In the latest Golfweek/Sagarin district rankings, San Diego State stands second behind conference foe New Mexico in Southwest District 7, a region that receives six bids into the NCAA Regionals. With that said, the Aztecs are a lock for the postseason and are playing as much for pride or an NCAA tune-up than anything else in the MWC Championship. The Aztecs boast a combined head-to-head record of 16-7-2 against the MWC and possess at least one win against every other conference opponent, including a 2-1-1 mark against the Lobos. The key to SDSU's success (six top-four results in 2002-03) and a major contributor to its inconsistency (three finishes of third or better, three results of ninth or worse in the spring) is the Aztec roster's depth. SDSU starters possess 20 top-20 finishes this season but only three times has a starter registered back-to-back top-20s, and head coach Dale Walker has sent out nine different lineups in 11 events this season, but the current edition of the Aztecs (Aaron Choi, Lars Johansson, John Lieber, Brian Miller and Mark Warman) registered a third place finish at the season-ending U.S. Intercollegiate and includes the top four scoring averages on the team.

MWC Championship 4/21 4/29 SDSU RecordTeam Rankings Golfweek Golfstat vs. In 02-03San Diego State 33 29Air Force 172 174 1-0BYU 44 42 4-2-1Colorado State 45 47 3-1New Mexico 17 28 2-1-1UNLV 7 11 1-3Utah 77 53 3-0Wyoming 156 158 2-0

  • The only conference team SDSU has a losing record against this season is UNLV (1-3). The Rebels (No. 7 Golfweek/No. 11 Golfstat) are the highest-ranked team in the team in the conference after beginning the season with seven straight top-four finishes. However, UNLV has struggled a bit to eighth- and ninth-place results in its last two events leading up to the MWC. Masters participant sophomore Ryan Moore, twice named MWC Golfer of the Month in 2002-03, leads the conference with a 70.96 scoring average and is No. 10 in the latest Golfweek individual ratings and one of four Vegas golfers in the top 150.
  • Aforementioned No. 17/28 New Mexico has produced a 2003 spring season similar to that of the Aztecs', with three top-six results and three finishes of 13th or worse. In its last four events, UNM has finished 13th, 15th, 2nd and 13th. The Lobos are led by senior Michael Letzig, who trails Moore in the league scoring race by only a fraction of a stroke with an even 71.00 average.
  • No. 44/42 BYU, the only other MWC team to defeat the Aztecs twice this season (2-4-1), is coming a second-place finish at its own tournament. The Cougars are paced by sophomore Greg Machtaler (three top-three finishes) and his 71.7 average, while freshman Daniel Summerhays has registered BYU's low score on five occasions en route to a 72.30 scoring average).
  • At sixth in District 7 in the April 21 Golfweek rankings, No. 45/47 Colorado State appears to sit squarely on the NCAA Regionals bubble. The Rams' successful spring season - which includes a win at BYU's Cougar Classic - has been spurred by the play of MWC April Golfer of the Month junior Martin Laird, who has seven straight top-10s and two wins this season going into defense of his 2002 MWC individual title. When you consider junior Nolan Martin (low CSU scorer in the season's first three events), the Rams possess perhaps the league's top duo.
  • No. 77/53 Utah has played well in the spring with a win at the USD Invitational and four straight top-five finishes. The Utes' low-scorer race is a three-way competition between freshman Casey Fowles (73.90), junior Luke Swilor (73.93) and junior Garrett Clegg (73.97).
  • Wyoming and (No. 156/158) and Air Force (No. 172/174) round out the field. The Cowboys may have only one top-five team result on the year, but they possess a capable player in senior Kurt Kowaluk, who has a 73.3 average and finished in the top 12 of all five fall events. AFA does not have an individual on the MWC's top 25 leaderboard and possesses only three top-10 team results in eight events consisting of 12 or more teams.

Mountain West History Lesson

  • UNLV has won two of the three previous MWC titles - including last season's - and dominated much of the championship record book. The Rebels won the 2002 title with a 3-over total of 867 on the Crosswater Course, two shots clear of second-place New Mexico. SDSU shot disappointing scores of 293-297 in the first two rounds before rebounding with a tourney-best final round of 284 to take fourth place at 10-over 874.
  • Despite the Rebels' team success, individuals from three different teams have come away with medallist honors in the three years of the MWC. Last season, CSU's Martin Laird came from two shots down to catch second-round leader Aztec Mark Warman and claim the individual title. Despite having to settle for a third runner-up finish last season, Warman used the MWC result as a springboard to qualifying as an individual for the NCAA Championships.
  • SDSU's best finish in the three years of the MWC Championship came in 2001, when the Aztecs finished in second place and two strokes behind champion BYU. However, SDSU does possess an individual winner, as then-junior John Lepak earned medallist honors in 2001 with a one-stroke win.

Warman Claims First Collegiate Title

  • After coming close several times last year, junior Mark Warman (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente HS) claimed the first individual title of his collegiate career by coming from two strokes back after the second round to earn medalist honors at the U.S. Intercollegiate. Warman (206, -7), who finished second on three different occasions in his all-MWC 2001-02 sophomore season, followed up his school- and course-record 62 in the second round with a final-round 73 to take a one-shot win.
  • Warman's performance, the third individual title of the season for an Aztec, sparked San Diego State to a third-place team finish in its final tune-up before the Mountain West Conference tournament. The Aztecs (851, -1) finished just a stroke out of second place and behind the two highest-ranked teams in the field - UCLA (No. 11 Golfweek/No. 5 Golfstat), which claimed the team title at 12-under 840, and No. 8/6 Oklahoma State, which SDSU led by two shots in second place after the second round.
  • SDSU (No. 34 Golfweek/No. 37 Golfstat) was still able to claim head-to-head wins over three higher-ranked teams from the Golfstat ratings - No. 28 UC Irvine (6th, 859), No. 31 California (11th, 873) and No. 36 Fresno State (4th, 853).
  • Warman's title is all the more impressive when considering the 90-golfer individual field he was up against. Warman (No. 182 Golfweek) defeated 31 of the nation's top 250-rated golfers according to Golfweek, 11 of them rated among the top 100 including No. 2 Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State (4th, 208, -5) and No. 5 Nick Watney of Fresno State (15th, 213, E).
  • Joining Warman in the top 10 was sophomore Aaron Choi (San Diego, Calif./Torrey Pines HS), who registered his career best and the low Aztec score of the day with a 5-under 66. Choi finished in a tie for ninth place at 2-under 211, his best career result as a starter.

A Return To Form

  • After a difficult junior year and a fall season in which he played in only two events, senior Lars Johansson (Karlskrona, Sweden/Champanskolam HS) has picked up his play this spring and bolstered the Aztec lineupwith another low scoring threat. After playing to a 73.37 stroke average last year, Johansson has returned to the form that earned him MWC Golfer of the Year and honorable mention All-American honors after his sophomore season.
  • Johansson claimed the third individual title of his collegiate career by firing an 8-under 208 to take medallist honors at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at Leilehua Golf Course in Wahiawa, Hawaii. Johansson, who was tied for 50th after a first-round 74, shot 66-68 and came from three shots back after 36 holes to win his first title since the second of back-to-back wins in the spring of his Mountain West Conference Golfer of the Year season in 2000-01.
  • Johansson has played in 5-of-6 spring events and recorded a pair of top-10s, including a fourth-place result at the April 4-5 Border Olympics (70-67-74-211, -5)... He has seven scores of par or better among his 21 rounds, including four rounds in the 60s... Had the team's lowest scoring average in the fall (72.50) but played in only two events... Boasts a team-best .944 count percentage for the season, with 17 of his 18 rounds in the Aztec lineup counting among the low four... Second on the team in stroke average for both the season (72.38) and the spring (72.33)... Three top-20s in seven events this season.

Around The Green

  • Five different Aztec individuals have won titles this season: Mark Warman at the U.S. Intercollegiate, Gilberto Rodriguez at the April 15-16 Wyoming Cowboy Classic, Andrew Scott at the March 10-11 Southern California Intercollegiate, Lars Johansson at the John Burns Intercollegiate and John Lepak at the Barona Collegiate Cup. Warman, Rodriguez and Scott won their first career titles, while Lepak has two and Johansson holds three.
  • Based on this season's results, SDSU may boast the deepest team in the country. All 10 players on the Aztec roster who competed this season now possess at least one top-five finish this season, and SDSU individuals hold 37 top-20s in 15 total events (including five in which the JV team competed). In another testament to the squad's depth, three of the five Aztecs who have won medallist honors this year are not in the postseason lineup.
  • Warman matched the MWC record with a first-round 68at last year's championship. Including his school- and course-record 62 in the Aztecs' last event at the U.S. Intercollegiate, Warman has five scores in the 60s this season and 14 rounds of par or better.
  • Warman's 72.20 stroke average ranks seventh in the conference, while Johansson is ninth at 72.38.
  • Senior Brian Miller has played his way into the Aztec postseason lineup by averaging 71.78 strokes over his last nine rounds.
  • Similarly, sophomore Aaron Choi has shot par or better in 4-of-6 rounds and averaged 71.17 shots over his last six rounds.

SDSU Stroke Averages Avg. Rds.Mark Warman* 72.20 30Lars Johansson* 72.38 21Aaron Choi* 72.81 32Brian Miller* 72.92 26Andrew Scott 73.13 30Charlie Smith 73.15 20John Lepak 73.33 30John Lieber* 73.40 30Gilberto Rodriguez 73.57 14Chris Galeski 74.71 14* - Starter at the MWC Championship
IN THE RANKINGSGolfweek/Sagarin (4/21)1. Clemson2. Wake Forest3. Texas4. Augusta State5. TCU6. Arizona7. UNLV8. Oklahoma State9. Florida10. North Carolina33. San Diego State
GCAA Poll (4/9)1. Clemson2. Oklahoma State3. Arizona4. Augusta State5. Wake Forest6. Texas7. UNLV8. TCU9. Florida10. UCLAarv. San Diego State
Golfstat (4/22)1. Clemson2. Augusta State3. TCU4. Texas5. UCLA6. Arizona7. Oklahoma State8. Wake Forest9. UNLV10. Florida29. San Diego State
Golf World Poll (4/11)1. Clemson2. Texas3. Oklahoma State4. Wake Forest5. UNLV6. TCU7. Arizona8. Augusta State9. Florida10. UCLA