May 29, 2012
The San Diego State men's golf team opened the 2012 NCAA championships Tuesday with a first-round 8-over 292 to put it in 12th place out of 30 teams. The Aztecs are just two strokes out of sixth place and three out of the top five at the par-71, 7,292-yard Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
"Overall, it was a good day," Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan said. "We have 54 holes to complete the stroke play portion of the NCAAs and we're seven in back of the lead. I think we're going to get off to a good start in the morning, the greens will be pure for us and we'll put up a good number tomorrow."
SDSU seniors J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) and Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) both carded opening efforts of 1-over 72 with three birdies, four bogeys and 11 pars to tie for 27th place with 17 other golfers. Spaun was one of four Aztecs to birdie the par-5 first hole, but then logged back-to-back bogeys. He leveled out with six pars in a row, but notched another bogey after making the turn to drop to 2-over. Spaun rallied with birdies on the 11th and 13th holes before ending the day with four pars and one final bogey.
Kang, meanwhile, was 1-under through the first 13 holes of the day, but bogeyed back-to-back holes on the par-3 14th and the par-4 15th holes and then finished the round with three pars.
In his national championship debut, junior Tom Berry (New Haw, England) continued to play well with his 2-over 73, including a birdie and 14 pars, to tie for 46th place. Senior Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.), who is making his first NCAA appearance since 2008, is two strokes behind Berry to tie for 81st with a 75, while classmate Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.) was 1-over through his first 10 holes, but then had two double bogeys and three bogeys over his final eight to end up with a 79.
Second-ranked Alabama is atop the team leaderboard through 18 holes with its 1-over 285, followed by Florida and Auburn, who are three back at 4-over 288. Individually, UCLA's Anton Arboleda shot the low round with a 4-under 67 and is one of just 12 golfers to break par.
The Aztecs will again be paired with North Florida and Texas A&M for Wednesday's second round, starting from the 10th tee at 8:10 a.m. PT. A link to live stats will be available on goaztecs.com.
2012 NCAA Men's Golf Championships
Pacific Palisades, Calif. - Riviera Country Club (Par-71, 7,292 yards)
First-Round Results Through 18 Holes
Team Scoring (Top 5 of 30 teams)
1 Alabama 285 (+1)2 Florida 288 (+4) Auburn 288 (+4)4 UCLA 289 (+5) Oklahoma 289 (+5)12 San Diego St. 292 (+8)
Top Three Individuals (Top 3 of 156 players)1 Anton Arboleda, UCLA 67 (-4)2 Corey Conners, Kent State 68 (-3) Tyler McCumber, Florida 68 (-3)
Other San Diego State GolfersT27 J.J. Spaun 72 (+1)T27 Alex Kang 72 (+1)T46 Tom Berry 73 (+2)T81 Matt Hoffenberg 75 (+4)T137 Colin Featherstone 79 (+8)