Feb. 3, 2009
TUSCON, Ariz. - San Diego State sophomore Matt Hoffenberg shot a final round 4-under-par to lead the Aztecs to a runner-up finish at the Arizona Intercollegiate on Tuesday afternoon. SDSU as a team was able to move up one spot in the team standings after shooting a final-round 6-over 290 to finish the spring season-opener with a three-round total of 6-over-par (288-280-290--858).
Hoffenberg was able to keep his under-par pace from the first day, draining six birdies over the final 18 holes. The Simi Valley, Calif. native put the finishing touch on his final round by closing with one of those six birdies en route to a 9-under-par total for the tournament. The Aztecs' sophomore finished only behind Tennessee's Chris Paisley (-12).
Freshman Andrew Cooley (New Haw, Surrey, England) ran into some trouble in the final round as he concluded tournament play with a nine-over par 222 (t-31st).
Sophomore Johan Carlsson rebounded nicely from a first-round 81 by shooting a 1-under-par 70 in the final round. The Gothenburg, Sweden, native managed to move up 31 spots on the individual leaderboard after beginning the day in a tie for 75th. He finished the tournament with an 11-over 224 (t-44th).
Completing first-round scoring for SDSU were freshman Alex Kang and senior David Palm. Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) couldn't duplicate his second-round 1-under par performance, and finished with a 12-over 225 (t-51st). Palm (Landvetter, Sweden), rebounded from a second-round 81 by shooting a 75 in the final round. He finished the tournament with a 13-over par (t-54th).
The Aztecs will return to action Feb. 23-24 when the make the short trip north to Los Angeles to compete in the USC Intercollegiate.
Arizona Invitational
Arizona National Golf Course (Par 71; 6,793 yards)
Tuscon, Ariz.
Top 5 teams out of 17
1. Pepperdine - 286-279-290--855 (+3)
2. San Diego State - 288-280-290--858 (+6)
3. Tennessee - 285-285-292--862 (+10)
T-4. UNLV - 291-281-294--866 (+14)
T-4. East Tennessee State - 300-278-288--866 (+14)
Top 5 out of 92 plus SDSU
1. Chris Paisley (Tennessee) - 68-66-67--201 (-12)
2. Matt Hoffenberg (SDSU) - 69-68-67--204 (-9)
3. Zach Byrd (Coastal Carolina) - 72-65-67--206 (-7)
4. Chad Vivolo (UNLV) - 72-72-65--209 (-4)
5. Sean Shahi (UC Irvine) - 73-68-69--210 (-3)
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T-31. Andrew Cooley (SDSU) - 72-69-81--222 (+9)
T-44. Johan Carlsson (SDSU) - 81-73-70--224 (+11)
T-51. Alex Kang (SDSU) - 77-70-78--225 (+12)
T-54. David Palm (SDSU) - 70-81-75--226 (+13)