May 30, 2012
PACIFIC PALISADES, CALIF. - The San Diego State men's golf team put itself in position to make a move up the leaderboard Wednesday, but then gave back five strokes over the final three holes, going from six to 11-over par and finished out the second round of the 2012 NCAA championships with an 11-over 295. The Aztecs ultimately ended up in a tie for 15th place with Auburn at 19-over 587, and are only three strokes out of eighth at the par-71, 7,292-yard Riviera Country Club.
"It's definitely a challenging golf course and we had some bad bogeys out there," SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan said. "We left ourselves in some spots where you just can't make par."
Both senior Alex Kang (Oak Park, Calif.) and junior Tom Berry (New Haw, England) posted identical second-round efforts of 2-over par to lead the squad. Kang matched a team high with three birdies on the first, ninth and 17th holes to give him six so far this week. He started the morning at 3-over par, but then bounced back to 1-over by carding two of his birdies and four pars over his next six holes. Kang sandwiched two pars between two bogeys, before ending the round strong with his second birdie in as many days on the par-4 ninth to push him into a tie for 25th place at 3-over 145.
Berry has been the model of consistency with his second consecutive 73 to come in just one stroke behind Kang with a 146 to tie for 37th. Berry carded 12 more pars, after totaling 14 on Tuesday, to give him 26 in the 36 holes. He had seven of them to start the round and then notched two birdies and two bogeys as he made the turn to the front nine at even-par. Berry remained even until he made bogey on each of the final two holes to wind up with a 73.
Aztec senior J.J. Spaun (San Dimas, Calif.) had four bogeys for the second day in a row, but unlike Tuesday, he was able to offset them with just one birdie on the par-3 16th and came in at 3-over. Spaun, who was third at the 2011 NCAA championships, is tied in 37th place with Berry with a 146, which includes his opening effort of 1-over 72.
Senior Colin Featherstone (Fallbrook, Calif.) was the lone San Diego State player to improve on his first-round total, knocking four strokes off with a 4-over 75, to jump 13 slots up the individual leaderboard into 124th. Featherstone made the turn at 1-over, highlighted by two birdies in his first seven holes. He then double bogeyed the par-4 second hole, but got one of those strokes back with another birdie on the par-4 fifth. He settled at 4-over for the day and 12-over the tournament with back-to-back bogeys on the seventh and eighth holes before finishing with a par.
The team's final senior, Matt Hoffenberg (Simi Valley, Calif.), got behind early in the day, finding himself at 4-over through his first seven holes and going to as high as 7-over before finally notching five pars and a birdie for a 77 and a 36-hole total of 152 to tie for 104th.
The Aztecs will be paired with top-seeded Texas and No. 7 Oregon for Thursday's final round of stroke play beginning from the 10th tee at 1:40 p.m. PT. The individual national champion will be crowned tomorrow, while the top eight squads advance to the match play portion of the championships. A link to live stats will be available on goaztecs.com.
NCAA Men's Golf Championships
Top eight teams advance to match play following Thursday's third round.
Pos. | School | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | To Par |
1. | Alabama | 285 | 287 | 572 | +4 | |
2. | UCLA | 289 | 287 | 576 | +8 | |
3. | Florida State | 290 | 290 | 580 | +12 | |
4. | Oklahoma | 289 | 292 | 581 | +13 | |
North Florida | 290 | 291 | 581 | +13 | ||
6, | Washington | 296 | 286 | 582 | +14 | |
7. | Liberty | 295 | 288 | 583 | +15 | |
8. | California | 295 | 289 | 584 | +16 | |
Kent State | 293 | 291 | 584 | +16 | ||
Florida | 288 | 296 | 584 | +16 | ||
USC | 298 | 286 | 584 | +16 | ||
Illinois | 295 | 289 | 584 | +16 | ||
13. | Texas | 290 | 295 | 585 | +17 | |
Oregon | 291 | 294 | 585 | +17 | ||
15. | San Diego State | 292 | 295 | 587 | +19 | |
Auburn | 288 | 299 | 587 | +19 | ||
17. | UCF | 290 | 298 | 588 | +20 | |
18. | Iowa | 290 | 299 | 589 | +21 | |
19. | Georgia | 295 | 298 | 593 | +25 | |
20. | Chattanooga | 299 | 295 | 594 | +26 | |
Texas A&M | 298 | 296 | 594 | +26 | ||
22. | Stanford | 293 | 302 | 595 | +27 | |
23. | Virginia | 306 | 292 | 598 | +30 | |
TCU | 299 | 299 | 598 | +30 | ||
East Carolina | 295 | 303 | 598 | +30 | ||
26. | UAB | 297 | 303 | 600 | +32 | |
27. | Virginia Tech | 299 | 302 | 601 | +33 | |
Memphis | 299 | 302 | 601 | +33 | ||
29. | Lamar | 299 | 303 | 602 | +34 | |
30. | Tulsa | 306 | 307 | 613 | +45 |
San Diego State Scores
Pos. | Name | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | To Par |
25. | Alex Kang | 72 | 73 | 145 | +3 | |
37. | J.J. Spaun | 72 | 74 | 146 | +4 | |
37. | Tom Berry | 73 | 73 | 146 | +4 | |
104. | Matt Hoffenberg | 75 | 77 | 152 | +10 | |
124. | Colin Featherstone | 79 | 75 | 154 | +12 |