March 12, 2012
With the help of three golfers who are currently in the top six on the leaderboard, the No. 15 San Diego State men's golf team owns a five-stroke lead Monday after 36 holes of the 2012 The Farms Collegiate Invitational in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. The Aztecs shot a 292 and followed it up with a tournament-low 286 in the afternoon to compile a 2-over 578 at the par-72, 6,974-yard The Farms Golf Club.
SDSU senior Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) fired one of just three sub-70 round on the day with his opening effort of 3-under 69 and followed that up with a 73 for a 2-under 142. He trails Anders Engell of Saint Mary's, who is at 5-under 139, and is one stroke up on UTEP's Martin Simonsen, who carded a 1-under 143.
Kang's classmate J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) posted consecutive 72s to tie for fourth place at even-par 144. Teammates Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.), who is competing as an individual, and Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.) are one stroke behind in a tie for sixth place at 1-over 145, while junior Tom Berry (New Haw, England) is the fifth Aztec in the top 15 with a 3-over 147, including a second-round 70.
SDSU newcomer Cameron Tennant (Woodland Hills, Calif.) opened with an impressive 73, before finishing with a 76 to tie for 17th place with a 149. Freshman Wilson Bateman (Edmonton, Alberta) struggled in the opening 18 holes with an 83, but later bounced back with a 78 to move from 68th into a tie for 59th.
The two-day tournament concludes Tuesday beginning for the Aztecs at 8:57 a.m. PT from the first hole. San Diego State is looking for its second consecutive team title in its last two events, having finished first at the North Ranch Intercollegiate the final week in February.
2012 The Farms Collegiate Invitational
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif. - The Farms Golf Club (Par-72, 6,947 yards)
Results Through 36 Holes
Team Scoring (Top 5 of 14 teams)
1 San Diego State 292-286-578 (+2)2 Saint Mary's 295-288-583 (+7)3 Missouri 294-301-595 (+19)4 UC Irvine 295-301-596 (+20)5 SMU 299-302-601 (+25)
Top Three Individuals (Top 5 of 78 players)
1 Anders Engell, Saint Mary's 68-71-139 (-5)2 Alex Kang, San Diego State 69-73-142 (-2)3 Martin Simonsen, UTEP 69-74-143 (-1)4 Jonny Baxter, UC Davis 73-71-144 (E) J.J. Spaun, San Diego State 72-72-144 (E)
Other San Diego State GolfersT6 Colin Featherstone* 71-74-145 (+1)T6 Matt Hoffenberg 74-71-145 (+1)T12 Tom Berry 77-70-147 (+3)T17 Cameron Tennant* 73-76-149 (+5)T59 Wilson Bateman 83-78-161 (+17)*=competing as an individual