Oct. 7, 2007
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SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team travels north up the coast to Fairfax, Calif., for its third tournament of the campaign to compete in the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. The invitational, hosted by California, will take place at the Par-71, 6,686 yard Meadow Club. The tournament will begin with 36 holes on Monday at 7:20 a.m. followed by the final 18 on Tuesday starting at 8 a.m.
The sixth-annual Alister MacKenzie Invitational will feature a strong 16-team field made up of in-state rivals and team's from the Pac-10 Conference. Competing against the Aztecs for the second consecutive week along with the Golden Bears will be No. 31 Arizona State, Oregon, No. 27 Oregon State, No. 36 Washington and Washington State. Other schools competing include Cal Poly, UC Davis, UC Irvine, Fresno State, San Francisco, San Jose State and Santa Clara, as well as 26th-ranked Louisville.
Last year's team medal was captured by California, while the individual honor went to former Bear Michael Wilson.
Live stats will be available on Golfstat.com and CalBears.com throughout the event.
This Week's Lineup
Head coach Ryan Donovan will employ his opening week lineup when the Aztecs take to the course on Monday at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational. Senior Aaron Goldberg, junior David Palm along with freshmen David Palm and Matt Hoffenberg will all be making their third start of the season and will be joined by senior Jamie Puterbaugh who competed in the season opening William H. Tucker Intercollegiate.
Returning All-American Aaron Goldberg is second on the team with 73.00 stroke average. The Encinitas, Calif. has shot par or less in three of his five rounds to date.
The team's most consistent performer this season has been freshman Johan Carlsson. The Gothenberg, Sweden, native has been everything Coach Donovan could have hope for and more leading the team in stroke average, 72.20, and having two top-15 finishes in his first two events. Carlsson also is tops on the Aztecs with three rounds below par this fall.
Palm and Hoffenberg return to their No. 3 and No. 4 spots in the lineup, respectively, after being solid contributors the first two tournaments. Hoffenberg's five rounds have counted toward the Aztecs' team score each time while Palm is rounding into form by averaging a stroke average of 74.40 after sitting out last season after back surgery.
Puterbaugh gets his second chance in the lineup after firing a 71 on Wednesday at the team's qualifying round at the Carlton Oaks Country club. The Carlsbad, Calif., native struggled in the team's first tournament in New Mexico firing a 12-over 228.
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 rains of the Pacific Northwest shortened the San Diego State men's golf team run at last week's Husky Invitational in Bremerton, Wash. The Aztecs struggled over the course of the first 36 holes on Monday firing a 300 and 297. The squad, in a tie with California for fifth place, was 12 strokes in back of the leader Oregon State and anxious to register some of its best scores when rain and wind cancelled the final round of the event.
Individually, SDSU was led for the second straight week by freshman Johan Carlsson. Carlsson finished in a tie for 12th after shooting a 3-over 147. The Gothenberg, Sweden, native was able to record the team's only round under par, 71, in his opening 18 holes of the invitational.
Freshman Matt Hoffenberg and junior David Palm both placed 20th after recording identical scored of 150 while senior Aaron Goldberg struggled shooting a 151, including an opening round score of 79, to finish in a tie for 24th.
Rounding out the scoring for SDSU was senior Chad Moscovic, competing in his first tournament of the fall, who carded a 160.
This Week's Course
The Meadow Club is located in North Bay's majestic Marin County. The course was designed by Dr. Alister MacKenzie in 1927 and built just above the town of Fairfax, near the Pacific Ocean. In 1990, the course hosted the 1990 NCGA Junior Championship and was also home to the 2001 U.S. Open qualifying rounds. Next spring, the course will be the site of the 2008 Pac-10 Men's Golf Championships.
We'll be back
The Husky Invitational was the first chance the Aztecs had to play on the same course that will host the 2008 NCAA Regionals. The Gold Mountain Golf Club is the home of NCAA West Regional, May 15-17, where the top-10 teams will advance 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.