Oct. 1, 2010
San Diego State men's golfer Alex Kang continued his solid play to start the season, as the junior is in third place Friday after day one of the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate at the par-72, 7,566-yard University of New Mexico Championship Golf Course in Albuquerque, N.M. The Aztecs were in first place by one stroke through 18 holes with a 291, but dropped down to fourth place in the afternoon despite carding just one more stroke with a 292. SDSU is one stroke out of third place and only three out of second with a 7-over 583.
After logging a pair of 68s in the team's season-opener two weeks ago, Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) did one better with an opening round 5-under 67, with five birdies, 13 pars and no bogeys. The 67 put Kang in first place for the second consecutive tournament after the opening 18, but in the second round, he double bogeyed the par-3 11th hole and added three more bogeys to finish with a 73 and a total of 4-under 140. He is six strokes behind day-one leader Pepperdine's Andrew Putnam, who followed his 69 with a 65 to cap the day.
Competing as an individual, Aztec redshirt junior Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.) is also currently in the top five as one of the six golfers in the field to be under par. Featherstone opened with a 6-over 78, but in the afternoon had one of the best rounds of his career and the team's low 18 of the day, notching a 65 with seven birdies, 11 pars and no bogeys. His 65 moved him from a tie for 56th place all the way into a tie for fifth with Zac Blair of BYU at 1-under 143.
SDSU senior Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) is the third Aztec in the top 20 as he's tied for 19th with a 3-over 147. Freshman Todd Baek (Aukland, New Zealand) isn't far behind with a 149, while teammates Tom Berry (New Haw, England) and J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) are both tied for 43rd place with a 152.
The Aztecs will tee off at 7:45 a.m. MT on Saturday for the final 18 holes. SDSU was runner-up at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in 2009 and 2007.