Nov. 4, 2009
KAHUKU, Hawaii -
Final Round Results in PDF Format
The San Diego State men's golf team won its first tournament title in two seasons with a decisive 18-stroke victory Wednesday at the 54-hole 2009 Turtle Bay Resort College Invitational in Kahuku, Hawaii. Sophomores Andrew Cooley (New Haw, England) and Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) tied for medalist honors and then played three playoff holes, before Kang won with a birdie on the par-4 ninth. The Aztecs had four golfers in the top seven overall to end the event at 26-under 838, which ties for eighth-best in SDSU history.
"Our motto (entering this tournament) was that this was a business trip and not a vacation," said Aztec men's head coach Ryan Donovan. "The guys were really focused, stayed patient and played well as a team, which was especially good with such a young group."
The victory was SDSU's first as a team since claiming three titles during the 2007-08 campaign and it is the second time this season an Aztec has earned top individual honors. San Diego State entered the week ranked 29th nationally, but easily handled the rest of the 12-team field, which included its nearest competitor No. 9 Illinois, who ended up in second place at 8-under 856.
Cooley posted three straight sub-par rounds, including a 1-under 71 over the final 18 holes to card a career-low by three strokes of 7-under 209. Kang matched that effort with his second 68 of the trip, but this time at the par-72, 6,662-yard George Fazio Course.
Aztec junior Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) was just three strokes behind the pair at 4-under 212 to place fifth, while freshman Tom Berry (New Haw, England) had a team-high eight birdies in the final round to tie for sixth place at 3-under 213.
San Diego State's best performance on the day, however, went to sophomore Tyler Morris (Encinitas, Calif.) who shaved 10 strokes off his Tuesday score with a 6-under 66, the best round by any of the 64 golfers in the entire event. Morris had five birdies and four pars in the final 18 holes to improve 13 spots in the final standings to 36th place with a 7-over 223.
The Aztecs don't resume action until the spring at the Arizona Invitational in Tucson, Feb. 1-2.
2009 Turtle Bay Resort College Invitational
Kahuku, O'ahu, Hawaii
Final Results - Men's - Par-72, 6,662-yard, George Fazio Course
Team Scoring (Top 5 teams out of 12)
1 San Diego State 278-286-274-838 (-26) 2 Illinois 290-289-277-856 (-8) 3 Santa Clara 290-286-285-861 (-3) 4 Long Beach State 285-294-284-863 (-1) 5 New Mexico State 291-299-280-870 (+6)
Individuals (Top 5 Individuals out of 64)1 Andrew Cooley, SDSU 70-68-71-209 (-7) Alex Kang, SDSU 68-73-68-209 (-7) 3 Michael Drake, LBSU 70-72-68-210 (-6) Rick Lamb, Santa Clara 70-69-71-210 (-6) 5 Johan Carlsson, SDSU 67-75-70-212(-4)
San Diego State T1 Andrew Cooley, SDSU 70-68-71-209 (-7) T1 Alex Kang, SDSU 68-73-68-209 (-7) 5 Johan Carlsson, SDSU 67-75-70-212(-4) T6 Tom Berry 73-70-70-213 (-3) T36 Tyler Morris 81-76-66-223 (+7)