April 15, 2011
SDSU Tournament Notes in PDF Format
The San Diego State men's golf squad will play its final pre-conference tournament tune-up this weekend, when it heads to Santa Cruz, Calif., to participate in the 65th annual Western Intercollegiate, April 16-17. The 54-hole event takes place at the par-70, 6,615-yard Pasatiempo Golf Course, which was designed by Alister Mackenzie, who also is the architect of Augusta National.
The Aztecs dropped one spot in the national rankings following their runner-up performance last week, but remain in the golfstat.com top five. SDSU is one of 15 squads participating in the six-man tournament, which also includes No. 3 UCLA, reigning national champion No. 7 Augusta State, No. 18 California, No. 19 Stanford, No. 20 USC, No. 22 Arizona State, No. 26 Oregon and No. 29 Washington.
The 65th annual Western Intercollegiate boasts a field of 92 golfers in all and was rated as the eighth-toughest spring tournament in the country by Golf Digest's Ryan Herrington. It is also the longest running men's college golf event west of the Mississippi River.
Play gets underway both days with a shotgun start at 8:15 a.m. PT. The Aztecs are paired with Arizona State for Saturday's 36 holes, while results will determine who they will golf with in Sunday's final round.
Live stats will be available on golfstat.com, as well as SDSU's official website, goaztecs.com.
Aztec Line-Up For This Week
With the Western Intercollegiate being a six-man event, San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan will be able to bring nearly his entire roster, including senior Johan Carlsson (Gothenburg, Sweden), juniors Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.), 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).
Spaun, who was honored as the Golfweek National Player of the Week on Monday, is currently the 44th-ranked player in the nation and tops in the Mountain West Conference with his team-leading 71.60 stroke average. Three other Aztecs, Kang (4th), Baek (8th) and Featherstone (9th), are also in the top 10 in the league.
Flashback: SDSU & The Western Intercollegiate
None of the six SDSU golfers have competed in the Western Intercollegiate previously, as the last time the Aztecs were in the field was in 2001. That year, then sophomore Lars Johansson earned medalist honors on the first playoff hole over Jason Higton of Pacific, after both posted a three-round total of 206.
Johansson is the third San Diego State golfer to finish first in the 64-year history of the event, joining Ron O'Connor (1960) and Kris Moe (1983). The Aztecs also claimed team honors in 1960 with a 596.
In The National Rankings
San Diego State moved down to fifth nationally in the latest golfstat.com rankings released this past Wednesday. With five tournament victories in 2010-11, including four in six spring events, the Aztecs continue to be tied for second nationally with Alabama, trailing only No. 1 Oklahoma State which has claimed six titles.
SDSU has also been rated 11th in the nation by Golfweek/Sagarin (as of April 11) and is seventh in the Golf World/NIKE Golf Division I Coaches' Poll, which was released on April 6.
Spaun Tabbed Golfweek National Player of the Week
SDSU junior J.J. Spaun was named the Golfweek.com national Player of the Week, the website announced late Monday. Spaun claimed medalist honors at the Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz., joining former ASU standout Phil Mickelson (1991-92) as the only players to win back-to-back titles in the 39-year history of the event.
Spaun continues to have a phenomenal spring slate with four top-five finishes in seven events leading to a pair of Mountain West Conference player-of-the-month awards. He currently leads the Aztecs in season stroke average with a 71.60 mark and has been even par or better in eight consecutive rounds spanning three tournaments.
SDSU also received honors from the website last month when it was named the national team of the week following its upset of top-ranked UCLA en route to the title at the USC Invitational, Feb. 28-March 1.
Rewind: Spaun Claims Thunderbird Invite Title
Aztec J.J. Spaun carded a birdie on the 18th hole to win the Thunderbird Invitational for the second consecutive season last Sunday at the par-71, 7,057-yard Karsten Golf Course on the campus of Arizona State.
Spaun was two strokes off the lead heading into the day, but won the title with his final-round 4-under 67 to edge out second place Nick Delio of Cal State Northridge by a single stroke, ending the tournament at 7-under 206.
As a team, fourth-ranked San Diego State was unable to catch No. 23 USC, as the Trojans had a nine-stroke lead entering the final 18 holes and ended up winning by 14 with a 15-under 837. The Aztecs were at 1-under 851, including a final-round 284, but still posted their sixth top-three finish in their seven spring outings.
Up Next
The men's golf team will head to Tucson, Ariz., to compete in the 2011 Mountain West Conference Championships at Omni Tucson National, May 5-7.
The Aztecs are still looking for their first MWC crown, after finishing second five times, including each of the last two campaigns.
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., he was a four-year member of the Aztec golf squad, before graduating in 2001.
Donovan recently signed a new three-year contract, which will keep him at his alma mater at least until 2012-13.