Feb. 29, 2008
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - San Diego State's Aaron Goldberg (Encinitas, Calif.) has been named the Mountain West Conference men's golfer of the month for January/February, the league office announced Friday. The Aztec senior earned his first monthly honor of the 2007-08 season and the fourth of his career, becoming just the third player to have won the award at least four times since the conference's inception in 1999.
Goldberg opened the spring season in impressive fashion, tying for second at the PING Arizona Intercollegiate, Jan. 28-29, after carding an 8-under-par 205 on rounds of 67-71-67. In a field of 86 participants, Goldberg was one of just 16 golfers to complete the Tucson, Ariz., tournament in red figures as he notched his highest finish of the 2007-08 campaign.
Two days later at the challenging San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif., Goldberg posted his second straight runner-up finish at the 36-hole SDSU Intercollegiate Classic on Jan. 31. The difficult 7,033-yard course layout was the bane of the 27-player field; however, Goldberg was one of only five competitors to complete a round at or below par, firing an even-72 during the second round to finish just one stroke away from the individual title at 3-over 147 (75-72).
Last week at the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii, Goldberg shot a collegiate-best 7-under par 65 over the final 18 holes en route to a 10-under 206 (69-72-65) for the event, where he tied for the seventh spot. In addition to lifting San Diego State to a fourth-place finish in the team standings, Goldberg's effort on the final day was also his lowest score in relation to par as an Aztec and tied three other players in the 110-golfer field for the low round of the tournament.
For the season, Goldberg leads the team with a 71.05 stroke average, which is also tops in the Mountain West Conference among players who have completed at least 18 rounds. In three spring tournaments, Goldberg has been even better, compiling an amazing 69.75 stroke average en route to two runner-up finishes.
Goldberg, who garnered MWC golfer of the month accolades on three occasions during the 2006-07 season, is ranked No. 30 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin individual ratings released February 24.
The Aztecs return to the fairways March 10-11, when they compete in the Fresno State Lexus Classic at Fort Washington Country Club in Fresno, Calif. SDSU will be looking to defend its team title from a year ago when it held off UC Irvine by one stroke in a field of 15 teams.