Oct. 19, 2010
Final Tournament Results in PDF Format
San Diego State men's golfer Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) won his second career individual tournament tile Tuesday at the 54-hole Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Fairfax, Calif. Kang posted a final-round 68 to end the two-day event with a school-record 16-under-par 197, edging both teammate Todd Baek (Auckland, New Zealand) and Cal's Ben An by a single stroke at the par-71, 6,708-yard course at The Meadow Club.
The Aztecs had three of their five golfers finish in the individual top-five and made a huge run at the team title over the final 18 holes, shaving eight strokes off their 10-stroke deficit heading into the day. The team, however, came up just short as the host Golden Bears won by two strokes with a 48-under 804. SDSU's final-round 16-under 268 was seven strokes better than any of the other 15 schools on Tuesday and allowed it to easily set a school record for low team score at a 54-hole tournament at 46-under 806. The previous Aztec 54-hole record was 822, when the team won the 2006 District 7 Fall Shootout in Las Vegas, which was also a par-71 event.
Kang and Baek became the first SDSU men's golfers to ever break the 200 barrier at a 54-hole tournament, easily eclipsing the previous school record of 201 by former All-American Aaron Goldberg at the same 2006 District 7 Fall Shootout.
Kang, who entered the week ranked 23rd nationally by Golfstat.com, added four more birdies, 13 pars and a bogey in Tuesday's final round. In 54 holes, the junior totaled 16 birdies, an eagle and only two bogeys on a pair of par-4 holes. Kang also claimed the individual title at the team's final fall event of 2009, the Turtle Bay Resort College Invitational, when he won on the third playoff hole.
Aztec freshman Baek, playing in his third collegiate event, challenged for the title with a final-round 66, which tied as the low score on the day in the 80-golfer field. After going 1-under on the front nine, the Rancho Bernardo High grad fired four birdies, including on three of the final four holes. Baek's 66 moved him from fourth into a tie for second place with An at 15-under 198.
Redshirt junior Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.) made it three Aztecs in the top five, when he also carded a final-round 66 to jump from seventh into fifth place at 13-under 200. Featherstone notched a bogey-free round with five birdies and 13 pars, a day removed from logging a pair of eagles on the par-5 first hole.
Junior J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) made the biggest gain on the final individual leaderboard for SDSU, moving up 15 slots into a tie for 35th with the help of a final-round 68, which included three birdies, 15 pars and no bogeys, to end up at 2-under 211. Sophomore Tom Berry (New Haw, England) rounded out the group with his second consecutive 72, tying for 50th with a 215.
The San Diego State men's golf team will resume action in 2011, when the Aztecs open their spring campaign at the Arizona Invitational in Tucson, Jan. 31-Feb. 1.
Scores with relation to par, Oct. 19, 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 262-266-276-804 (-48)
2 San Diego State 267-271-268-806 (-46)
3 Oregon State 273-277-275-825 (-27)
4 UC Davis 276-276-277-829 (-23)
5 UC Irvine 277-278-277-832 (-20)
Top Five Individuals (Top 3 of 80 players)
1 Alex Kang, SDSU 62-67-68-197 (-16)
2 Todd Baek, SDSU 67-65-66-198 (-15)
Ben An, Cal 65-64-69-198 (-15)
4 Stephen Hale, Cal 67-66-66-199 (-14)
5 Colin Featherstone, SDSU 67-67-66-200 (-13)
Other San Diego State Golfers
T35 J.J. Spaun 71-72-68-211 (-2)
T50 Tom Berry 71-72-72-215 (+2)