Sept. 16, 2011
The defending Mountain West and NCAA West Regional champion San Diego State men's golf team, under ninth-year head coach Ryan Donovan, released its 2011-12 schedule on Friday. The slate includes 11 regular-season tournaments, highlighted by a pair of home events, the San Diego Intercollegiate Classic in mid-February and the annual Barona Collegiate Cup in late March.
"Year in and year out we really try to challenge ourselves with playing in the best tournaments and this year is no exception," Donovan said. "After a challenging fall campaign, we start the spring with three of four events in San Diego, including a very strong field at the San Diego Intercollegiate Classic and the annual Barona Collegiate Cup. Overall, we are just excited to get the season underway and will look to continue to improve each day."
The Aztecs play one more tournament this fall than they did in 2010, traveling to the Husky Invitational in Washington and the William H. Tucker Invitational in New Mexico, before consecutive in-state stops at The Prestige at PGA West and the Alister Mackenzie Invitational. SDSU is the reigning team champions at the Tucker Invite, having rallied from a seven-stroke deficit over the final 18 holes. In addition, senior Alex Kang will return to defend his individual title at the Alister MacKenize where he set a school record with a 16-under par 197.
After a near four-month break, the Aztecs open their 2012 spring campaign at home with the San Diego Intercollegiate Classic at the San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif. The team will be the co-host for the two-day event, Feb. 13-14, with the University of San Diego.
After a trip to the North Ranch Intercollegiate (formerly the USC Invitational), where San Diego State is the defending champions, the Aztecs play two local tournaments, including the Callaway Farms Invitational in Rancho Santa Fe (March 12-13) and the annual Barona Collegiate Cup in Lakeside (March 22-23). SDSU won the latter event in 2011 in extremely wet conditions for its second consecutive title after two runner-up performances.
The squad returns to the U.S. Intercollegiate at Stanford after skipping last year's event, before competing in the Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. Last season, Aztec senior J.J. Spaun joined former Arizona State standout Phil Mickelson (1991-92) as the only players to win back-to-back individual titles in the 39-year history of the Thunderbird Invite.
San Diego State finishes the regular season with the 65th annual Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif., and then heads back to Arizona for the Mountain West championships, May 4-6, in Tucson, Ariz. The Aztecs have won in each of their last two trips to the Omni Tucson National, claiming the program's first-ever MW and NCAA regional crowns in 2011.
SDSU will then aim for its 14th consecutive NCAA regional bid, which will take place at one of six sites across the nation, May 17-19. Should the Aztecs qualify for the NCAA finals, they will compete May 29 to June 3 at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
San Diego State returns six letterwinners from last year's squad that won seven tournament titles. The team had 13 top-five finishes, including 12 in the top three, while boasting a combined head-to-head record of 168-31-1 (84.3). SDSU did not finish lower than seventh at any 2010-11 outing prior to the NCAA national championships and twice was named the national team of the week by GolfWeek.
Thus far, the Aztecs have earned preseason national rankings of sixth in Golfweek and 14th in the Golf World/Nike Golf Division I College Coaches' Poll.