Oct. 15, 2008
SAN DIEGO - The Aztec men's golf team is set to play host to the second annual Sycuan Collegiate Invitational in El Cajon, Calif. The tournament is scheduled for Monday- Tuesday, Oct. 20-21, at Willow Glen Golf Course at the Sycuan Resort.
Play will begin at 7:30 a.m. PT with shotgun starts slated for both days. Monday will feature 36 holes, with 18 to follow on Tuesday. Athletes will be hitting from the black tees on the par 72, 6,687-yard course. There will be no live results for the tournament and complete results will be posted on GoAztecs.com at the conclusion of each day.
The Invitational will consist of a 20-team field that includes Mountain West Conference teams Colorado State, Air Force and Wyoming. Other squads scheduled to compete are Arkansas State, Army, Denver, Fresno State, George Mason, Hawaii, Idaho, Loyola Marymount, San Diego, San Jose State, UC Riverside, UTEP, UC Santa Barbara, Wichita State and Yale. Individuals from 12th-ranked Arizona State will also be competing.
In last year's tournament, SDSU finished in second place behind the Shockers, who rallied from six strokes back on the final day. The Aztecs' top performer for the tournament was David Palm, who tied for third at +2.
San Diego State will be hitting the links for just the second time this season after coming in third at the Husky Invitational in late September. Johan Carlsson finished the tournament in second place and was one of just two golfers to post an under-par score. The sophomore carded a 2-under 214 and led SDSU to an overall team score of 15-over (879). Carlsson's performance has him among the top players in the nation as he currently ranks 13th in the Golfweek/Sagarin performance index and 27th in the Golfstat Cup rankings.
In addition to Carlsson, SDSU's freshmen class is among America's best as they currently rank fourth on the Golfstat Top 25 Freshman Class Impact Ranking. Only Oregon, Alabama and Louisville are ranked ahead of the Aztecs.
As a team, San Diego State is No. 34 in the Golfweek/Sagarin performance index and No. 46 according to Golfstat.