Sept. 30, 2007
SAN DIEGO -
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Aztec Golfers Head to Washington For The Husky Invitational
The San Diego State men's golf teams heads to the Pacific Northwest to compete in its second tournament of the season at the Husky Invitational beginning on Monday in Bremerton, Washington. The tournament will begin with 36 holes the first day followed by the final 18 on Tuesday at the Par-72, 7,061-yard Gold Mountain Golf Club. Tee offs are scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. on both days.
The Husky Invitational is hosted by Washington for the eighth season and will feature a 13-team field. The Aztecs will go up against Mountain West Conference foes BYU and New Mexico, along with Pac-10 powers California, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State. Last week's William H. Tucker Intercollegiate medalist Pepperdine will also compete for the Invitational title.
Last year's team medal was captured by UCLA while the individual honor went to current UW junior John Wise.
Live stats will be available on Golfstat.com and GoHuskies.com throughout the event.
This Week's Lineup
Head coach Ryan Donovan's Husky Invitational lineup will look a lot like his William H. Tucker Intercollegiate scorecard with four starters returning.
Returning All-American Aaron Goldberg will be looking to improve on his first tournament score of 2-under 214. Goldberg saved his best for last shooting his tournament low of 69 in the final round. Last season, the Encinitas, Calif., native shot under par in 10 of 12 outings.
Making his second start of the season will be freshman Johan Carlsson. The native of Gothenburg, Sweden, was an instant success in his first collegiate tournament tying Goldberg for fifth with a three-round score of 214.
Also making their second appearances of the fall are freshman Matt Hoffenberg and junior David Palm. Hoffenberg tied seven others for 19th place with a score of 5-over 221. Palm, after sitting out last season after back surgery, was one shot back of Hoffenberg in a tie for 26th place.
Making his first start of the season on Monday will be senior Chad Moscovic. Moscovic competed in nine tournaments last season and averaged a score of 74.67 per round. The Stockton, Calif., native will look to duplicate more outings like at the 2006 District 7 Fall Shootout where he shot a 5-under 208 and tied for seventh.
Head Coach Ryan Donovan
Fresh off of signing a new three year deal, San Diego State alumnus Ryan Donovan enters his fifth season as the leader of the Aztec men's golf program. With Donovan at the helm last year, SDSU captured three tournament titles en route to its ninth straight NCAA regional appearance. Overall, the Aztecs compiled a 99-65 head-to-head record, finishing 50th in Golfstat's final collegiate poll.
Under Donovan's tutelage last season, junior Aaron Goldberg had one the program's finest campaigns finishing with a scoring average of 70.71, recording seven top-5 finishes and clinching the medalist honors at the District 7 Fall Shootout on his way to being named a PING All-American, the program's first such honor since 2001.
The 2005-06 season was equally impressive as Donovan guided SDSU to three team tournament victories and its eighth consecutive NCAA regional appearance. Three Aztec golfers - seniors Andrew Scott and Josh Warthen and sophomore David Palm - all claimed individual titles during the season, while Scott and Goldberg garnered all-Mountain West Conference accolades.
Donovan was a four-year competitor for the SDSU golf squad from 1997- 2001. His most successful season came as a junior when he posted five top-30 finishes.
Last time out
The San Diego State men's golf team had a successful showing in its first tournament of the fall on Sept. 14-15, finishing in second place at the William H. Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Aztecs finished four strokes back of tournament champion Pepperdine with a score of 4-over 868.
Individually, SDSU had three of their five participants finish in the top 20, with freshman Johan Carlsson and senior All-American Aaron Goldberg finishing in a tie for fifth. Both players shot a 2-under 214 for the tournament.
Freshman Matt Hoffenberg tied for 19th in his Aztec debut after finishing with a three-round score of 221 (+5) while junior David Palm carded a 222 in his first tournament since the spring of 2006.
Rounding out the scoring for SDSU was senior Jamie Puterbaugh who tied for 54th with 12-over 228, but did shoot an even-par 72 in the second round.
We'll be back
The Husky Invitational will be a chance for the Aztecs to play on the same course the 2008 NCAA Regionals will be held. The Gold Mountain Golf Club hosts the NCAA West Regional, May 15-17, with the top-10 teams advancing the NCAA Championships, May 28-31, in West Lafayette, Ind.
Summer Wrap
Senior Aaron Goldberg joined an elite group of golfers this August that represented the U.S.A. at the World University Games at the Water Mill Golf and Gardens Club in Bangkok, Thailand. The PING All-American finished sixth in the international competition after shooting an even-par score of 288 over 54 holes. Goldberg tied fellow teammate Ryan Brehm of Michigan State for the highest finish by an American at this Olympic-style competition.
Senior Jamie Puterbaugh, also in August, captured his third straight San Diego City Amateur golf championship after shooting an even-par-72 during the final round of competition at the Torrey Pines South Golf Course.
Puterbaugh, who appeared in all 12 of the Aztecs' 2006-07 tournaments, overcame recent back spasms that kept him from playing golf most of the summer to claim a three-shot victory at 2-under 286 for four rounds played over the course of back-to-back weekends.
The Carlsbad, Calif., native became only the third three-time champion in the history of the San Diego City Amateur Championship. The last champion to win three straight titles was Pat Duncan Sr., who took home the crown four straight years from 1987-90, and nine times overall.