April 1, 2012
The San Diego State men's golf team settled for sixth place at the U.S. Intercollegiate in Stanford, Calif., posting a final-round 295 on Sunday to move its 54-hole total to 33-over 873. The ninth-ranked Aztecs trailed fifth-ranked Washington by 10 strokes for fifth place at the par-70, 6,742-yard Stanford Golf Course.
Junior Tom Berry (New Haw, England) was SDSU's top finisher for the first time this season, cutting one stroke off each of his rounds to tie for 19th place at 6-over 216, including a 71 in the final 18 holes. Berry had 15 pars on the day, while also carding two bogeys and a birdie on the par-5 seventh hole for his fourth top-20 performance of the season.
Aztec senior Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.) also had his tournament low in the final 18 holes, matching Berry's 71 to jump from 36th into a tie for 25th place at 7-over 217. Hoffenberg started with two bogeys, but then notched seven pars and two birdies over his next nine holes. He ended with four pars after a three-hole span of two bogeys and his final birdie.
SDSU's final three golfers went the other way on the individual leaderboard with Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.) slipping from 18th all the way to 40th at 11-over 221 and Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) dropping from 36th to 43rd at 12-over 222. Senior J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.), who entered the weekend having won in each of his last three tournaments, had two double bogeys and a triple bogey on the front nine, before finishing the afternoon with pars on his final nine holes to tie for 46th at 13-over 223.
Oregon held off No. 8 USC for the team title by just one stroke with a 1-over 841, including a final-round 285. The Ducks also claimed the medalist honor with Daniel Miernicki going from third to first with his second 66 to win by five strokes at 6-under 204.
San Diego State will have just five days to prepare for its next tournament, the Thunderbird Invitational at Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz., April 6-7. Spaun is the two-time defending individual champion at the event.
U.S. Intercollegiate
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford Golf Course (Par-70, 6,742 yards)
Final Results Through 54 Holes
Team Scoring (Top 4 of 16 teams, plus SDSU)
1 No. 12 Oregon 272-284-285-841 (+1)2 No. 8 USC 279-285-278-842 (+2)3 No. 13 Stanford 284-284-281-849 (+9)4 No. 6 UCLA 277-291-284-852 (+12)6 No. 9 San Diego State 285-293-295-873 (+33)
Top Three Individuals (Top 4 of 90 players)1 Daniel Miernicki, Oregon 66-72-66-204 (-6)2 Pedro Figueiredo, UCLA 67-74-68-209 (-1) Jay Hwang, UCLA 70-71-68-209 (-1) Sam Smith, USC 70-69-70-209 (-1)
San Diego State GolfersT19 Tom Berry 73-72-71-216 (+6)T25 Matt Hoffenberg 72-74-71-217 (+7)T40 Colin Featherstone 72-72-77-221 (+11)T43 Alex Kang 71-75-76-222 (+12)T46 J.J. Spaun 70-76-77-223 (+13)