April 26, 2005
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SDSU Set To Compete At MWC Championships
The 49th-ranked San Diego State men's golf team begins its postseason schedule this week, as the Aztecs head to the Pacific Northwest for the 2005 Mountain West Conference championships in Surnriver, Ore.
SDSU will play at the par-72, 7,568-yard Crosswater Course at Sunriver Resort, April 28-30. Sunriver has been the site of the conference tournament each of the last five seasons after the inaugural 2000 event was at the PGA West Course in Palm Desert, Calif.
The championships will feature 54 holes of golf with one round each of the three days. The Aztecs will be paired with fourth-ranked UNLV for the first two rounds, while the pairings for final 18 holes will be based on the team standings heading into the last day. Each round begins at 9:30 a.m. PDT.
The Upperclassmen: Aztec Line-Up For This Week
Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan will bring the same starting five to the MWC tournament that he had for last week's PING Cougar Classic in Utah. Seniors Aaron Choi (San Diego, Calif.), Linus Nilsson (Limhamn, Sweden) and Gilberto Rodriguez (Tijuana, Mexico) will be joined by juniors Andrew Scott (Henderson, Nev.) and Josh Warthen (Pismo Beach, Calif.). Choi is currently ranked 76th and Scott is No. 135 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
While all five SDSU players are upperclassmen, only two have previous experience at the MWC championships. Choi tied for 16th with a 3-over 219 in 2003, but dropped in the standings a year later, coming in tied for 34th at 18-over 234.
The only other Aztec with conference experience is Scott, who tied for 11th at 5-over 221 in 2005.
The Competition
Three of SDSU's opponents this week are ranked in the top 13 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings as of April 24. UNLV is ranked fourth, New Mexico is fifth, BYU is 13th followed by the 49th-ranked Aztecs.
SDSU owns winning head-to-head records this season over three of its opponents this week in Air Force (2-0), Utah (3-0) and Wyoming (2-0). The Aztecs' most frequent opponent in 2004-05, has been Colorado State, which has finished higher than SDSU in four of six events.
Individually, six of the top 10 finishers from last year's MWC tournament return, including reigning conference and NCAA champion UNLV's Ryan Moore. Moore, ranked No. 1 nationally, and New Mexico's Spencer Levin are among the three finalists for the Ben Hogan award, which is given to the nation's top collegiate golfer.
In addition to Moore and Levin, four other MWC golfers, including SDSU's Aaron Choi, are ranked in the top 50.
SDSU In The MWC Tournament
In the five-year history of the Mountain West Conference, SDSU has finished second twice, fourth on two occasions and fifth once.
Last season, the Aztecs placed fourth at 10-over 874, seven strokes off the pace set by New Mexico (won playoff) and BYU. The 874 tied the team's fourth-place effort in 2002.
SDSU was the runner-up in 2001, just two strokes behind winner BYU. The Aztecs and Cougars tied for the second place slot in 2003 at even par 864, while the inaugural MWC championships saw SDSU place fifth.
Individually, an Aztec has placed in the top four in each of the previous five campaigns. John Lepak won the tournament as a junior in 2001, while Mark Warman was the runner-up in 2002 and 2004.
Warman owns the school record for best individual score with a 7-under 209 in 2004, followed by Scott Piercy's 5-under 211 in 2000.
Mountain West History Lesson
• New Mexico has claimed the MWC championship each of the last two seasons, winning in a playoff versus BYU in 2004. UNLV also is a two-time titlist in 2000 and 2002, while BYU edged SDSU in 2001 by two strokes.
• Four different schools have had a player win the individual title, including UNLV (2004), New Mexico (2003), Colorado State (2002) and SDSU (2001). UNLV also had the medalist in 2000, however, no player has ever won more than once.
• The first MWC championship took place at the PGA West Course in Palm Desert, Calif. The tournament then moved to Sunriver the next five seasons.
• This year's course will be the same par (72) and yardage (7,568) as last year.
• New Mexico and UNLV own all of the team championship records. The record for lowest individual round is 64 by Colorado State's Martin Laird, while UNLV Ryan Moore has the tournament 54-hole record of 10-under 206. SDSU appears in the record book in one spot, smallest individual winning margin (1) by John Lepak in 2001.
MWC Championship Results
Live stats will be provided for this year's Mountain West Conference championship. The stats will be available on the MWC website (www.themwc.com) or via Golfstat (golfstat.com).
Last Time Out: PING Golf Cougar Classic
The San Diego State men's golf team tied the school record for 54 holes with a 30-under 834 at the PING Cougar Classic in Provo, Utah. The Aztecs, ranked 51st nationally, ended up fourth overall in the team standings, 14 strokes behind first place Fresno State, at the par-72, 6,950-yard Riverside Country Club.
SDSU matched the school record for 54 holes set back in 2003 at the Fresno Lexus Classic. The Aztecs logged a 279 in the final 18 holes on Saturday, tying for their third-lowest round of the 2004-05 season. Three MWC schools were in the top four at the PING Cougar Classic, including host BYU (828) and Colorado State (829).
Individually, the Aztecs had four players finish in the top 17 in the field of 100. Junior Andrew Scott ended up 9-under 207, including a third round 70, to tie for eighth. Classmate Josh Warthen had the team's only sub-70 performance in the final 18 holes, jumping from 33rd to 15th place with a 4-under 68.
Seniors Aaron Choi and Gilberto Rodriguez tied for 17th place at 5-under 211, while senior Linus Nilsson tied for 44th with a 216.
Up Next
The winner of this week's Mountain West Conference championship earns an automatic bid to the NCAA regional tournament. If SDSU claims the MWC title, it will most likely head to the NCAA west regional in Stanford, Calif., May 19-21. The other two regional sites include St. Simons Island, Ga. (East) and South Bend, Ind. (Central).
Each of the three regional tournaments will include 27 teams and six individuals, not on those teams. The participants will be selected by the NCAA men's golf committee and are announced on May 9.
The Aztecs are currently ranked third of 18 teams in the southwest district. A minimum of six teams out of the southwest district will earn bids to the NCAA regional tournament.
The top 10 teams and two individuals (not on those teams) from each region will advance to the NCAA championships, June 1-4, in Baltimore, Md.
Head Coach Ryan Donovan
After leading the Aztecs to a solid season in 2004, Ryan Donovan begins his second season as the head coach of the San Diego Stat men's golf program. Last year, the Aztecs compiled a record on 105-66-1 in head-to-head play.
Prior to taking over the program, Donovan served as the SDSU assistant golf coach. From 1997 to 2001 Donovan also was a four-year member of the Aztec golf team. The most successful season of his collegiate career was in 2000, when he recorded five top-30 finishes.