Men's Golf

No. 15 Aztec Men's Golf Holds Off No. 1 UCLA For Tournament Title

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March 1, 2011

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. -

USC Collegiate Invitational Final Results in PDF Format

The 15th-ranked San Diego State men's golf team claimed its second tournament title of the spring by holding off the nation's No. 1 team, edging UCLA by two strokes Tuesday at the USC Collegiate Invitational in Westlake Village, Calif. The Aztecs, who placed 14th at the same event a year ago, were the only squad in the 15-team field to finish the two-day, 54-hole event under par, posting a 2-under 850 on the par-71, 6,869-yard course at North Ranch Country Club.

This is the second consecutive season in which SDSU has upset Golfstat.com's top-ranked team, doing so last year when it finished ahead of No. 1 Oregon at the Barona Collegiate Cup in Lakeside. The Aztecs have now won three tournament titles in their six total events in 2010-11, claiming first place at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in October and at the Arizona Invitational last month.

"We have a very mature team and they've seen this golf course before and really stay disciplined," SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan said. "They went out there with a great attitude and to their credit, they got it done."

San Diego State had three golfers finish in the top eight at the USC Collegiate. In addition, all five of its team members placed in the top 35 in the field of 80 participants, which included 10 schools ranked among the top 50 in the nation.

Aztec senior Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden) fired his second-consecutive sub-70 round earlier this morning with a 69, but then finished the event with a 2-over 73 to settle for a third-place tie at 3-under 210. Junior J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) posted his second consecutive top-10 finish with three consecutive 71s to end up seventh at even-par 213. Freshman Todd Baek (Auckland, New Zealand) rallied in the final 18 holes to move from 26th all the way into eighth place with his final-round 69 to card a 1-over 214.

After firing a second-round 68, SDSU junior Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) dropped from fourth into a tie for 19th with a 76 over the final 18. Sophomore Tom Berry (New Haw, England) also fell in the standings in the final round with his 77, but still tied for 35th place at 7-over 220.

UCLA's Patrick Cantlay earned medalist honors with his 6-under 207, edging Arizona State's Scott Pinckney by two strokes.

San Diego State will head further north next week for the Fresno State Lexus Golf Classic at the San Joaquin Country Club, March 7-8.

Scores with relation to par, March 1, 2011, at the USC Collegiate Invitational played at the par-71, 6,869-yard North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif.

Team - 54 holes (Top 5 of 15 teams)
1. #15 San Diego State 282-279-289--850 (-2)
2. #1 UCLA 280-286-286--852 (E)
3. #45 Oregon 282-288-291--861 (+9)
4. #17 Stanford 285-289-289--863 (+11)
5. UC Davis 283-289-295--867 (+15)

Top Six Individuals (Top 6 of 80 players)
1. Patrick Cantlay, UCLA 67-72-68--207 (-6)
2. Scott Pinckney, Arizona St. 71-71-67--209 (-4)
T3. Johan Carlsson, SDSU 68-69-73--210 (-3)
T3. Tyler Raber, UC Davis 70-73-67--210 (-3)
T5. Bhavik Patel, Fresno St. 71-73-67--211 (-2)
T5. Andrew Yun, Stanford 70-70-71--211 (-2)

Other San Diego State Golfers
7. J.J. Spaun 71-71-71--213 (E)
T8. Todd Baek 71-74-69--214 (+1)
T19. Alex Kang 72-68-76--216 (+3)
T35. Tom Berry 72-71-77--220 (+7)