June 3, 2005
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team saw its 2005 season come to an end Friday, as the Aztecs remained in 23rd place overall after carding a third-round 26-over 306 in rainy conditions at the 2005 NCAA championships. SDSU fell 10 strokes shy of making the cut for Saturday's final 18 holes, which will include just the top 15 schools at the par-70, 7,131-yard Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md. The Aztecs ended the event at 52-over 893 through 54 holes.
"We just didn't play well the last nine holes," SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan said. "The rain didn't want to stop and there wasn't a dry spot on the course. It made it difficult to make up ground, but this was still a good experience for our program, especially for our (two) juniors."
Aztec senior Aaron Choi (San Diego, Calif.) finished out his career with his best performance of the tournament, logging a 2-over 72 with three birdies. Choi's 72 tied for eighth best on the day in the field of 156 golfers, vaulting him from 118th to 68th place at 13-over 223.
Junior Andrew Scott (Henderson, Nev.) tied Choi for 68th place with a 223, including a 77 in the third round. Scott logged the team's second-lowest score each of the three days of the tournament.
SDSU junior Josh Warthen (Pismo Beach, Calif.) completed action with a 78 to end in 75th place at 14-over 224, while seniors Gilberto Rodriguez (Tijuana, Mexico) and Linus Nilsson (Limhamn, Sweden) were at 16 and 19-over for the tournament, respectively.
Georgia continued to maintain its nine-stroke lead over the 30-team field, but saw its total score shoot up to 15-over 855 after logging a 17-over 297 Friday. The Bulldogs, who were 2-under entering the day, were one of just of seven schools to break the 300 barrier in the third round.
Pepperdine's Michael Putnam is still atop the individual scoreboard at 3-under 207, holding a one-stroke lead over Augusta State's Major Manning and Georgia Tech's Roberto Castro. The top six individuals not on advancing teams will also compete in Saturday's final 18 holes.
San Diego State's 23rd-place finish is its highest in the last four NCAA appearances since also taking 23rd at the 1983 championships.
Third round scores with relation to par June 3, at the 2005 NCAA championships, played at the par-70, 7,131-yard Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
Top Five Team Scores
1. Georgia 274-284-297-855 (+15)
2. Georgia Tech 288-281-295-864 (+24)
3. USC 290-282-303-875 (+35)
4. UNLV 284-290-302-876 (+36)
5. Five teams tied 877 (+37)
23. San Diego State 290-297-306-893 (+53)
Top Five Individual Scores
1. Michael Putnam, Pepperdine 67-67-73-207 (-3)
2. Roberto Castro, Ga. Tech. 69-68-71-208 (-4)
Major Manning, Aug. St. 65-70-73-208 (-4)
4. John Holmes, Kentucky 70-72-69-211 (+1)
Aron Price, Ga. Southern 66-73-72-211 (+1)
San Diego State
t68. Aaron Choi 75-76-72-223 (+13)
t68. Andrew Scott 72-74-77-223 (+13)
t57. Josh Warthen 71-75-78-224 (+14)
t97. Gilberto Rodriguez 74-72-80-226 (+16)
t118. Linus Nilsson 73-77-79-229 (+19)