April 13, 2008
TEMPE, Ariz. -
Final Tournament Results in PDF Format
San Diego State freshman Matt Hoffenberg fired a 3-under-par 68 on Sunday to lead the Aztec men's golf team during the final round of the 36th annual ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. Despite shooting a 6-over 290 as a team, SDSU (+24, 876) still managed to climb three places over the final 18 holes, finishing in the eighth position at the 7,057-yard, par-71 Karsten Golf Course. With two squads participating, host school Arizona State captured the tournament title and runner-up spot at 9-under and even par, respectively, while Texas A&M (+7), Colorado State (+7) and Denver (+8) rounded out the top five.
After jumping 21 spots during the second round, Hoffenberg maintained his assault on the individual leaderboard by vaulting an additional 31 places on Sunday to finish in a tie for 14th at 2-over 215. The Simi Valley, Calif., native tied two other golfers for the low round of the day, carding three birdies while posting an eagle on the par-5 14th. With his effort, Hoffenberg equaled his third-best round as a collegian en route to his seventh straight top-20 finish in as many starts this spring.
Right behind Hoffenberg was Aaron Goldberg (Encinitas, Calif.), who managed to move up one notch on Sunday after carding a final-round 73 to finish the tournament in a tie for 16th at 3-over 216. Goldberg, who hopped 37 places on Saturday, had his ascent sandbagged by three bogeys over the final 18 holes; however, the Aztec senior still came away with his 10th top-20 showing in 11outings this season.
Meanwhile, fellow classmate Chad Moscovic (Stockton, Calif.) matched his second-best outing of the year thus far, tying for the 46th position at 9-over 222. Moscovic drained consecutive birdies on the front nine en route to a 73 to tie Goldberg for SDSU's second-best score of the final round. Completing the scoring for the Aztecs was freshman Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) who closed with a 5-over 76 to tie for 69th at 13-over 226.
Denver's Espen Kofstad (-3) rallied from the 14th position to edge Knut Borsheim of Arizona State (-2) by one shot to take home medalist honors.
San Diego State will have one final tune-up before the MWC championships when it heads north next weekend to compete in the U.S. Intercollegiate, April 19-20, in Stanford, Calif.
ASU Thunderbird Invitational At Tempe, Ariz. Karsten Golf Course (7,057 yards, par 71)
Final Team Standings (Top 5 + SDSU)1. Arizona State 279-279-285 - 843 (-9)2. Arizona State (B) 279-286-287 - 852 (-E)T3. Texas A&M 291-281-283 - 859 (+7)T3. Colorado State 280-288-291 - 859 (+7)5. Denver 285-284-291 - 860 (+8)8. San Diego State 304-282-290 - 876 (+24)
Final Individual Leaders (Top 5 + SDSU)1. Espen Kofstad, Denver 70-72-68 - 210 (-3)2. Knut Borsheim Arizona State 73-68-70 - 211 (-2)T3.Riley Arp, Colorado State 70-70-72 - 212 (-1)T3. Jesper Kennegard, Arizona State 75-68-69 - 212 (-1)T3. Braxton Marquez, Arizona State 66-73-73 - 212 (-1)T14. Matt Hoffenberg, SDSU 77-70-68 - 215 (+2)T16. Aaron Goldberg, SDSU 75-68-73 - 216 (+3)T46. Chad Moscovic, SDSU 76-73-73 - 222 (+9)T69. Johan Carlsson, SDSU 79-71-76 - 226 (+13)T78. David Palm, SDSU 76-76-80 - 232 (+19)