March 30, 2012
U.S. Intercollegiate - Round 1
The ninth-ranked Aztec men's golf team is currently in a three-way tie for eighth place after the first round of the U.S. Intercollegiate Friday at the par-70, 6,742-yard Stanford Golf Course. San Diego State, which has won four consecutive tournaments, carded an opening 5-over 285 to match both San Francisco and Fresno State. The team is just one stroke out of sixth place and only three out of the top five with 36 holes still remaining in the three-day event.
All five Aztec golfers are within at most three strokes of one another, as senior J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) fired the team's low score with an even-par 70 to tie him for 17th. Spaun, who in search of his fourth straight individual crown, opened the morning with an eagle on the par-5 first hole and was 3-under after making the turn. He then logged back-to-back bogeys and notched a double bogey on the par-4 15th. Spaun ended the day with a birdie and two pars to card his 11th consecutive even-par or better round, which spans his last five tournaments.
Senior Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) led SDSU with four birdies, but had to offset them with double bogeys on the third and 15th holes to tie for 25th place at 1-over 71. Aztecs Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.) and Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.) both fired opening 72s to tie for 37th, while the squad's only non-senior on the trip, junior Tom Berry (New Haw, England), is tied for 47th with a 73..
Oregon, which won the U.S. Intercollegiate the last time it was played in 2010, leads the 17-team field by five strokes at 8-under 272. Fresno State's Rufie Fessler is atop the individual leaderboard with a 5-under 65, just one stroke better than a pack of three other golfers who are tied for second at 4-under par.
Play continues Saturday with the second round, as San Diego State, along with Stanford and San Francisco, will be the first to tee off on the first hole starting as early as 8 a.m. PT. Live scoring is available on goaztecs.com and golfstat.com.
U.S. Intercollegiate
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford Golf Course (Par-70, 6,742 yards)
Results Through 18 Holes
Team Scoring (Top 6 of 17 teams, plus SDSU)
1 No. 12 Oregon 272 (-8)2 No. 6 UCLA 277 (-3)3 No. 8 USC 279 (-1)4 No. 5 Washington 280 (E)5 Nevada 282 (+2)T8 No. 9 San Diego State 285 (+5)
Top Three Individuals (Top 4 of 90 players)1 Rufie Fessler, Fresno State 65 (-5)2 Nick Chinaello, Oregon State 66 (-4) Matt Hansen, UC Davis 66 (-4) Daniel Miernicki, Oregon 66 (-4)
San Diego State GolfersT17 J.J. Spaun 70 (E)T25 Alex Kang 71 (+1)T37 Colin Featherstone 72 (+2)T37 Matt Hoffenberg 72 (+2)T47 Tom Berry 73 (+3)