Sept. 29, 2010
SDSU Tournament Notes - Tucker Intercollegiate in PDF Format
Aztec Men's Golf Heads To Albuquerque
With just three tournaments on its 2010 fall schedule, the San Diego State men's golf team heads to event No. 2 this coming weekend, when the Aztecs play in the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, N.M., Oct. 1-2. The first two rounds will be contested Friday, while the final 18 holes take place on Saturday. Both days begin with a shotgun start at 7:45 a.m. MT at the par-72, 7,566-yard University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course.
SDSU is participating in the William H. Tucker Intercollgiate for the third time in the last five years and the ninth occasion since 2000. The tournament is currently in its 56th year and is the second-oldest men's college tournament in the country. Previous individual participants include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Ben Crenshaw, Johnnie Miller, Cory Pavin, Mike Weir, Colin Montgomery, Fuzzy Zoeller and Jim Furyk.
This year's field includes 16, five-man squads as well as eight individual competitors. San Diego State will be joined by fellow Mountain West Conference schools BYU, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Pepperdine, which won the Aztecs' opening tournament two weeks ago in Washington, is the highest ranked team in the field, coming in 20th in the latest Golf World/NIKE Golf men's coaches' poll. SDSU (30th), Arizona, Baylor and North Texas are all also receiving votes in the poll.
Live results will be available for all three rounds at golfstat.com.
Aztec Line-Up For This Week
Head coach Ryan Donovan will bring the same starting five with him for the second consecutive tournament, as senior Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden), juniors Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) and J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.), sophomore Tom Berry (New Haw, England) and freshman Todd Baek (Auckland, New Zealand) will all make the trip to Albuquerque. Redshirt junior Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.) joins the quintet and will compete as an individual.
Carlsson has played in two previous William H. Tucker Intercollegiates, while this is the second consecutive trip for both Kang and Spaun.
Flashback: SDSU & The William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
San Diego State participates in the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate for the second year in a row and the ninth time in the last 11 years.
The Aztecs have been tournament runner-ups in each of their last two outings in Albuquerque. A year ago, SDSU was one of only two squads to finish under par, coming in second behind UNLV with a 5-under 859. Then junior Johan Carlsson tied for sixth place with a 4-under 212, while Andrew Cooley tied for ninth with a 213. Alex Kang and J.J. Spaun were also both in the top 25, taking 21st and 24th respectively.
In 2007, the Aztecs posted a 4-over 868, including a final round 1-over 289. SDSU finished four strokes in back of champion Pepperdine and had three players end up in the individual top 20, including Carlsson (t-5th).
San Diego State has placed in the top 10 six times in its eight appearances at the Tucker Intercollegiate since 2000.
Rewind: Aztecs Third In 2010-11 Opener
The San Diego State men's golf team concluded its first tournament of the season by taking third place at the 54-hole Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational in Auburn, Wash., Sept. 20-21. The Aztecs had three players finish in the top 20 and posted a 5-under 859, to end up five strokes behind sixth-ranked Washington and 12 in back of first-place Pepperdine at the par-72, 7,304-yard Washington National Golf Club.
SDSU junior Alex Kang tied for sixth place with a 3-under 213, highlighted by a pair of 68s. Todd Baek had a solid first outing as a collegian, taking 15th place overall at even-par 216, while senior Johan Carlsson tied for 19th at 2-over 218.
Sophomore Tom Berry was the only Aztec not to rise in the standings in the final round, dropping from a tie for eighth place all the way into a tie for 33rd at 7-over with a 223. J.J. Spaun rounded out the group, bouncing back from an opening 82 to take 55th at 12-over 228.
2009-10 Review: Aztecs Earn 12th Straight NCAA Bid
The San Diego State men's golf team posted seven top-five finishes, including two victories and three runner-up performances, en route to its 12th consecutive and 15th overall NCAA regional appearance. The Aztecs ended the season ranked 28th nationally by golfstat.com and finished as the MWC tournament runner-up for the second year in a row.
Individually, three players recorded tournament victories. Alex Kang and Andrew Cooley tied for first at the Turtle Bay Resort College Invitational in November and J.J. Spaun won the Thunderbird Invitational. Aztec golfers recorded two additional individual runner-up performances and three third-place efforts.
Spaun received MWC player-of-the-month honors in April, and was later named all-conference, making him the 10th Aztec to earn the distinction in the league's 11-year history.
Up Next
The squad heads back to California to finish up its fall schedule at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational on Oct. 18-19, a tournament that senior Johan Carlsson finished second at a year ago. The spring season won't get underway until the end of January in Arizona.
Head Coach Ryan Donovan
Head coach Ryan Donovan is in his eighth season at the helm of the SDSU golf program after serving as an assistant in 2003. A native of Yorba Linda, Calif., Donovan was a four-year member of the Aztec golf squad, before graduating in 2001.