Oct. 18, 2010
San Diego State men's golfer Alex Kang tied a school record with an opening round 62, and is currently tied for first place through 36 holes Monday at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Fairfax, Calif. Kang played near bogey-free golf, carding an eagle and 12 birdies on the day to sit at 13-under-par 129, along with day-one co-leader Ben An of California on the par-71, 6,708-yard course at The Meadow Club.
As a team, the Aztecs have three golfers in the top seven in the 80-participant field, but trail host and first place California by 10 strokes. SDSU is currently at 30-under-par 538, including a first-round 267, while the Golden Bears posted a 40-under-par 528.
For the third straight tournament, Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) did not card a bogey in the opening 18 holes. The junior was at 2-under on the front nine and then had five birdies and an eagle on his final eight holes to come in with a career-low 62, which ties the school record set by Mark Warman at the U.S. Intercollegiate in 2003. Kang beat his previous career best by four strokes and then followed it up with a second-round 67, including five birdies and his lone bogey on the par-4 17th hole.
Kang, who is ranked 38th nationally by golfstat.com, has been the team's top finisher in each of the first two fall events, coming in sixth at the Kikkor Golf Husky Invite in mid-September and tying for seventh place at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, which the Aztecs went on to win.
Joining Kang in the individual top-seven is true freshman Todd Baek (Auckland, New Zealand) and redshirt junior Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.). Baek is at 10-under 132 with a first-round 67, followed by a career-low 65 in the afternoon, which was highlighted by a streak of five straight birdies to move from a tie for 10th into fourth place. The Rancho Bernardo High graduate boasted a field-best 15 birdies over the 36 holes.
Featherstone, meanwhile, fired back-to-back 67s, notching an eagle on the par-5 first hole twice. He also had seven birdies compared to only three bogeys to end up in a tie for seventh place with an 8-under 134.
Aztec junior J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) had San Diego State's fourth eagle on the day and third on the par-5 first hole. Spaun and sophomore Tom Berry (New Haw, England) are both tied for 50th place, carding identical scores to stand at 1-over 143.
The third and final round is slated for Tuesday morning, beginning with tee times at 8:50 a.m. PT in Fairfax. The Aztecs were sixth at the rain-shortened event in 2009, and won the team title in 2007, by overcoming an 11-stroke deficit in the final 18 holes. Live results are available at golfstat.com.
Scores with relation to par, Oct. 18, 2010, at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational, played at the par-71, 6,708-yard Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif.
Team Scoring (Top 5 of 16 teams)
1 California 262-266-528 (-40)
2 San Diego State 267-271-538 (-30)
3 Oregon State 273-277-550 (-18)
4 UC Davis 276-276-552 (-16)
5 UC Irvine 277-278-555 (-13)
Top Five Individuals (Top 3 of 80 players)
1 Alex Kang, SDSU 62-67-129 (-13)
Ben An, Cal 65-64-129 (-13)
3 Alex Moore, Ore. St. 66-65-131 (-11)
4 Todd Baek, SDSU 67-65-132 (-10)
5 Two tied 133 (-9)
Other San Diego State Golfers
T7 Colin Featherstone 67-67-134 (-8)
T50 J.J. Spaun 71-72-143 (+1)
T50 Tom Berry 71-72-143 (+1)