May 17, 2012
TEAM SCORING | INDIVIDUAL SCORING
STANFORD, Calif. - The San Diego State men's golf team shot a 282 (+2) in the opening round of the NCAA Stanford Regional Thursday at the 6,742-yard, par-70 Stanford Golf Course. The Aztecs are tied for eighth place in the 13-team field after 18 holes.
San Diego State, ranked 14th nationally, is nine shots off the pace of tournament leader San Francisco, which is at 7-under-par (273). The Aztecs are just four shots in back of a trio of teams currently tied for fourth place.
The three-day event continues with single rounds tomorrow and Saturday. The top five teams in the region will advance to the NCAA national championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., beginning on May 29.
"We are in a good spot," SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan said. "There are a lot of teams bunched up around the middle of the pack. Our kids fought hard today and I think we will be ready to go."
San Diego State had three players card a team-best 70 (E) on Thursday. Seniors Colin Featherstone, Alex Kang and J.J. Spaun all shot even-round scores and are tied for 27th overall among the 75 participants.
Featherstone, a native of Fallbrook, Calif., had 13 pars and a birdie in his 14 holes en route to his 70. He recorded both of his first round birdies on par 5s.
Kang, a two-time all-Mountain West Conference selection, started his round with bogeys on number two and number four. He played the rest of the course two-under-par and posted a team-best four birdies on the day.
Spaun, the Mountain West Conference player of the year, was 2-over-par late in his round, but birdied the par-5 16th hole and the par-3 17th hole to end the round at even.
"I was glad to see J.J. birdie two of his last three holes," Donovan, the two-time Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year said. "In events like this, you need your leaders to step up and make plays and he did that down the stretch today."
Tom Berry, a junior from New Haw, England, had four bogeys in his first seven holes, but recovered to shoot 1-under-par on his last 11 holes of the round. His first round score of 2-over-par 72.
The Aztecs will be back on the course tomorrow morning, starting on the number 10 hole. Live hole-by-hole scoring is available through Golfstat, with a direct link to the scores located on the front page of GoAztecs.com.
Team Scores
Rank | Team | To Par | Round 1 |
1. | San Francisco | -7 | 273 |
2. | No. 2 California | -4 | 276 |
3. | No. 8 Stanford | -3 | 277 |
T4. | No. 37 UAB | -2 | 278 |
T4. | No. 22 UCF | -2 | 278 |
T4. | No. 38 Wichita State | -2 | 278 |
7. | No. 47 Tennessee | E | 280 |
T8. | No. 14 San Diego State | +2 | 282 |
T8. | No. 25 LSU | +2 | 282 |
T10. | No. 50 Oregon State | +7 | 287 |
T10. | Southeastern Louisiana | +7 | 287 |
T10. | San Jose State | +7 | 287 |
13. | UC Davis | +13 | 293 |
San Diego State Individual Scores
Rank | Team | To Par | Round 1 |
27. | J.J. Spaun | E | 70 |
27. | Alex Kang | E | 70 |
27. | Colin Featherstone | E | 70 |
47. | Tom Berry | +2 | 72 |
68. | Matt Hoffenberg | +6 | 76 |