Feb. 25, 2013
WESTLAKE, VILLAGE, Calif.- The San Diego State men's golf team is currently in fifth place after shooting a collective 17-over par 585 on Monday during the first two rounds of the North Ranch Intercollegiate in Westlake Village, Calif. The Aztecs find themselves five shots in back of fourth-place Liberty (+12) at the 35th annual tournament after posting scores of 294 and 291 at the par-71, 6,753-yard North Ranch Country Club.
SDSU's starting five golfers finished within nine strokes of one another, led by freshman Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy), who followed an opening round 74 with a team-low 71 during the afternoon session to tie for the 13th position at 3-over 145, while junior James Holley (Chatsworth, Calif.) sits one stroke back in a seven-way tie for 16th after shooting a 4-over 146 on identical rounds of 73 in his first action of the spring.
Meanwhile, senior Tom Berry (New Haw, Surrey, England) and junior Austin Kaiser (Atscadero, Calif.) are right on their teammates' heels after each fired a 5-over 147 to finish in a tie for 23rd. Berry (73-74) led the Aztecs with seven birdies on the day, while Kaiser (74-73) logged five of his own, including three over his final eight holes. Elsewhere, sophomore Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.) carded back-to-back 77s to wind up in a tie for 48th at 12-over 154.
In addition, SDSU had two players compete as individuals, including freshman Kevin Ko (Coquitlam, British Columbia), who finds himself in a tie for 10th out of 69 golfers after firing a combined 2-over 144 on rounds of 73 and 71. Ko's morning session was highlighted by an eagle on the par-5, 474-yard 15th after he birdied the previous hole, a 416-yard par-4. Rounding out the Aztec delegation was Robert Gojuangco (San Diego, Calif.), another freshman who tied for 36th after logging a 9-over 151.
USC (-6) occupies the top spot in the team standings, while Pepperdine (+4) and Brigham Young (+4) are both 10 shots off the pace.
Final round action at the North Ranch Intercollegiate gets underway for SDSU on Tuesday, starting at 7:40 a.m. PT. The Aztecs will tee off on hole No. 1 with Liberty and UC Santa Barbara.
North Ranch IntercollegiateDay One ResultsNorth Ranch C.C.Westlake Village, Calif.Par-71, 6,753 yards
Team Scores (Top 5)1. USC 285-279--564 (-4)T2. Pepperdine 292-282--574 (+6)T2. Brigham Young 283-291--574 (+6)4. Liberty 285-295--580 (+12)5. San Diego State 294-291--585 (+17)
Individual Leaders (Top 5 + SDSU)1. Sam Smith, USC 65-71--136 (-6)2. Yi Keun Chang, USC 70-68--138 (-4)3. Zachary Blair, Brigham Young 70-71--141 (-1)T4. Chase Marinell, Liberty 68-74--142 (E)T4. Frederick Wedel, Pepperdine 74-68--142 (E)----T10. Kevin Ko, SDSU* 73-71--144 (+2)T13. Riccardo Michelini, SDSU 74-71--145 (+3)T16. James Holley, SDSU 73-73--146 (+4)T23. Austin Kaiser, SDSU 74-73--147 (+5)T23. Tom Berry, SDSU 73-74--147 (+5)T36. Robert Gojuangco, SDSU* 74-77--151 (+9)T48. Xander Schauffele, SDSU 77-77--154 (+12)
*-competed as an individual