June 19, 2008
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State's Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.) continued his stellar off-season play this week by advancing to the quarterfinals of the 97th annual California State Amateur Championship at Lakeside Golf Club in Toluca Lake, Calif. The top-seeded Hoffenberg recorded two wins in the match-play phase of the event, defeating Connor Alan-Lee, 4 and 3, in the opening round on Wednesday before edging Matthew Marshall, 1 up, in Thursday's round of 16.
With his victories, the Aztec rising sophomore will now face Joshua Dupont in quarterfinal action on Friday. The No. 24 seed Dupont upset ninth-seeded Marshall Colby in the opening round, 5 and 4, before downing No. 25 Steve Woods, 3 and 2, in the round of 16.
Against Marshall, Hoffenberg drained five birdies over his first 11 holes and was 4 up after making a par 4 on the short 293-yard 13th. Marshall seized the momentum at this juncture, capturing three consecutive holes, including back-to-back birdies on the 16th and 17th. However, Hoffenberg held off his stubborn adversary as both players closed with a par and bogie on their final two holes.
The California State Amateur Championship opened with two rounds of stroke play earlier this week as Hoffenberg shared medalist honors with Scott McGihon and Alex Kim at 2-under-par 140. The SDSU lefty fired a 4-under 68 on Monday at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, Calif., before finishing with an even-par 72 the following day at Lakeside G.C.
With his 2008 summer schedule less than three weeks old, Hoffenberg has already tasted victory after winning the prestigious Southwestern Amateur Championship in Santa Ana Pueblo, N.M., on June 13.