May 15, 2008
BREMERTON, Wash. -
The San Diego State men's golf team shot a combined 14-over-par 302 on Thursday during the opening round of the 2008 NCAA West Regional Championships on the 7,111-yard, par-72 Olympic Course at Gold Mountain Golf Club. With their total, the Aztecs find themselves in a tie for the 13th position in the 27-team field, just three shots in back of 10th-place Texas (+11) in the 54-hole tournament as the top 10 teams from each of the three regionals advance to the national championship series.
Senior Aaron Goldberg posted the SDSU's lowest score of the day, firing a 1-over 73 to finish in a tie for the 19th position. The Encinitas, Calif., native climbed into a third-place tie on the strength of two birdies on the front nine, but was unable to keep pace after the turn, suffering two bogeys en route to a 38 over his final nine holes. Still, Goldberg remains just four strokes off the pace as only seven players in the 141-golfer field managed to break par.
Oregon's Joey Benedetti grabbed the lead after 18 holes, logging a 3-under 69 to give the Ducks a two-shot advantage in the team standings over USC (+3), UCLA (+3) and host school Washington (+3), while Pepperdine (+4) rounded out the top five.
The rest of the Aztec lineup struggled to find consistency on Thursday, including freshman Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.), who shot a 4-over 76 to finish in a tie for 64th along with junior David Palm (Landvetter, Sweden). After carding five bogeys over the first 12 holes, Hoffenberg played at 1-under-par the rest of the way, highlighted by a birdie on the par-3 8th, his next-to-last hole of the day. Meanwhile, Palm notched pars on 16 of 18 holes, but was unable to make a move on the individual leaderboard after suffering a triple-bogey just before making the turn on the par-4 17th hole. Despite their woes, both golfers find themselves just three shots out of the top 20 with 36 holes left to play.
Right behind Hoffenberg and Palm sits freshman Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden), who fired a 5-over 77 to finish the day in a tie for the 82nd spot. Carlsson had a stretch of four pars and one birdie on the front nine, but could not sustain the momentum after carding three bogeys over his final eight holes.
Senior Chad Moscovic (Stockton, Calif.) also experienced a rough day, posting a 9-over 81 to complete the SDSU contingency.
The NCAA West Regional Championships resume on Friday with second-round action as the Aztecs are slated to tee off once again with players from Arizona State and Texas starting at 8:05 a.m. PT. A live scoring link will be available on the home page of GoAztecs.com.
NCAA West Regional Championships At Bremerton, Wash. Gold Mountain Golf Club - Olympic Course (7,111 yards, par 72)
First Round Team Standings (Top 10 + SDSU)1. Oregon 289 (+1)T2. USC 291 (+3)T2. UCLA 291 (+3)T2. Washington 291 (+3)5. Pepperdine 292 (+4)6. Saint Mary's 294 (+6)T7. Clemson 295 (+7)T7. North Carolina 295 (+7)9. Stanford 296 (+8)10. Texas 299 (+11)T13. San Diego State 302 (+14)
First Round Individual Leaders (Top 7 + SDSU)1. Joey Benedetti, Oregon 33-36 - 69 (-3)2. Eric Shriver, Pepperdine 34-36 - 70 (-2)T3. Kevin Chappell, UCLA 37-34 - 71 (-1)T3. Rob Grube, Stanford 33-38 - 71 (-1)T3. Nick Taylor, Washington 34-37 - 71 (-1)T3. Isaiah Telles, Oregon 37-34 - 71 (-1)T3. Dan Woltman, Wisconsin 34-37 - 71 (-1)T19. Aaron Goldberg, SDSU 35-38 - 73 (+1)T64. Matt Hoffenberg, SDSU 39-37 - 76 (+4)T64. David Palm, SDSU 39-37 - 76 (+4)T82. Johan Carlsson, SDSU 38-39 - 77 (+5)T129. Chad Moscovic, SDSU 39-42 - 81 (+9)