Sept. 12, 2009
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The San Diego State men's golf team was one of just two squads to finish under par, as the Aztecs placed second at the season-opening William H. Tucker Intercollegiate with a 5-under 859 Saturday afternoon in Albuquerque, N.M. UNLV easily won the team title with a 21-under 843, but SDSU was eight strokes better than third place BYU, nine in front of Baylor and 10 lower than reigning NCAA champion Texas A&M.
The Aztecs finished the delayed second round with a tournament-best 276, before ending the 54-hole event with a 292 over the final 18 holes at the par-72, 7,591-yard University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course. San Diego State also finished second the last time they played at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in 2007.
San Diego State junior Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) jumped from ninth into a tie for sixth in the final 18 holes with his second even-par round of the tournament. Carlsson tied UNLV's Brett Kanda and Wyoming's Gabe Maier at 4-under 212.
Aztec sophomore Andrew Cooley (New Haw, England), who was among the leaders for most of the two-day event, dropped from third into a tie for ninth after carding a final-round 77. Cooley had been at 8-under with a pair of 68s over the first 36 holes, but had six bogeys and one double-bogey to post a 3-under 213, which was still one stroke off his career low.
Sophomores Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) and J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) both finished in the top 25 in the 104-golfer field, as Kang tied for 21st at 2-over 218 and Spaun was 24th at 4-over 220. Junior Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.) rounded out the Aztec contingent in 33rd place with a 221, including a second-round 71.
UNLV's Derek Ernst and Colby Smith tied for medalist honors at 8-under 208, while BYU's Robbie Fillmore and Air Force's Tom Whitney were two strokes behind.
San Diego State travels to Illinois next week for the prestigious Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invite, Sept. 18-20.
Final-round scores with relation to par, Sept. 12, 2009, at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, played at the par-72, 7,591-yard UNM Championship Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M.
Team Scoring (Top 5 of 17)
1. UNLV - 282-273-288-843 (-21)
2. San Diego State - 291-276-292-859 (-5)
3. BYU - 287-293-287-867 (+3)
4. Baylor - 293-285-290-868 (+4)
T5. Texas A&M - 292-278-299-869 (+5)
T5. Pepperdine - 287-288-294-869 (+5)
Top Five Individuals
T1. Derek Ernst, UNLV - 67-68-73-208 (-8)
T1. Colby Smith, UNLV - 73-64-71-208 (-8)
T3. Robbie Fillmore, BYU - 69-70-71-210 (-6)
T3. Tom Whitney, Air Force - 69-66-75-210 (-6)
5. Timothy Madigan, NMSU - 68-70-73-211 (-5)
San Diego State
T6. Johan Carlsson - 72-68-72-212 (-4)
T9. Andrew Cooley - 68-68-77-213 (-3)
T21. Alex Kang - 75-70-73-218 (+2)
T24. J.J. Spaun - 77-70-73-220 (+4)
T33. Matt Hoffenberg - 76-71-74-221 (+5)