Feb. 2, 2010
TUCSON, Ariz. - San Diego State sophomore Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) fired a final round 4-under-par 67 to finish in a tie for 11th place in the men's golf team's 2010 spring opener Tuesday at the Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson, Ariz. The Aztecs posted their best round of the tournament with an even-par 284, but finished the 54-hole event in 10th place at 8-over 860 at the par-71, 6,793-yard Arizona National Golf Club.
Kang had five birdies and only one bogey in the final 18 holes to jump from 30th place all the way into an 11th place tie on the individual leaderboard at 4-under 209. His final day 67 was his second straight sub-par round, was a season-low and was easily the best 18 holes by an Aztec in Arizona by three strokes. Kang's 209 matched his career low for a 54-hole tournament, as he also carded the same score in winning the Turtle Bay College Invitational in Hawaii this past November.
Three other SDSU golfers made improvements in Tuesday's final round, as sophomore J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) moved from 42nd to 40th place with his third consecutive 1-over 72, junior Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.) jumped four slots into 43rd place with a 72 and sophomore Andrew Cooley (New Haw, England) rebounded with a 2-over 73. Junior Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) rounded out the Aztec contingent by finishing in 55th place at 10-over 223, including a 76 in the final 18 holes.
California came away with the team title by one stroke over host Arizona, finishing at 29-under 823, while Wildcat Rich Saferian picked up medalist honors by two strokes with a 13-under 200.
The San Diego State `Black' (B) squad will be in action next week, when it participates in the USD Farms Invitational, Feb. 8-9, in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
2010 Arizona Intercollegiate
Tucson, Ariz.
Arizona National Golf Club - Par 71, 6,793 yards
Final Results
Team Scoring (Top 5 teams, plus SDSU, out of 14)
1 California 269-274-280-823 (-29)
2 Arizona 279-271-274-824 (-28)
3 Fresno State 284-273-281-838 (-14)
4 Florida 281-279-279-839 (-13)
5 Texas A&M 283-277-281-841 (-11)
10 San Diego State 290-286-284-860 (+8)
Individuals (Top 3 Individuals out of 79)
1 Rich Saferian, Arizona 68-66-66-200 (-13)
2 Bhavik Patel, Fresno St. 69-65-69-203 (-10)
Michael Weaver, Cal 64-68-71-203 (-10)
San Diego State
T11 Alex Kang 72-70-67-209 (-4)
T40 J.J. Spaun 72-72-72-216 (+3)
T43 Matt Hoffenberg 75-70-72-217 (+4)
55 Johan Carlsson 73-74-76-223 (+10)
64 Andrew Cooley 73-83-73-229 (+16)