March 17, 2013
TUCSON, Ariz. - The San Diego State men's golf squad slipped into in eighth place on Sunday after carding a 13-over par 301 during the final round of the Don Puckette National Invitational Tournament at the Omni Tucson National Golf Club. The Aztecs began the day in the fourth position, but dropped four spots to finish with a combined 3-over 867 on the par-72, 7,200-yard course layout.
Individually, SDSU was led by Tom Berry (New Haw, Surrey, England), who fired a 72 over the final 18 holes to tie for 10th with three other golfers at 3-under 213. The Aztec senior overcame a shaky start with six pars and three birdies on the back nine en route to his fourth top-10 performance of the season.
Meanwhile, Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.) was the only other SDSU starter to finish among the top 30 after posting a final-round 74 on Sunday to tie for 29th at 2-over 218. The Aztec sophomore managed to offset five bogeys with a trio of birdies, but still tumbled six places from Saturday's standing.
Junior Austin Kaiser (Atascadero, Calif.) suffered a more precipitous drop, falling from the 19th spot into a tie for 44th at 5-over 221 following a final-round 78, while freshman Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy) experienced a similar fate, tumbling 15 places into a tie for 47th after recording a 77 over the final 18 holes. Kaiser's round was marred by two double bogeys, while four straight bogeys derailed Michelini's momentum after he made birdie on hole No. 10.
Rounding out the SDSU contingent was junior James Holley (Chatsworth, Calif.), who shot a final round 79 to tie for 67th with a combined 12-over 228.
Ironically, the Aztecs' lowest round of the day came via freshman Robert Gojuangco (San Diego, Calif.), an individual competitor who fired a 71 to end the day in a tie for 29th, along with teammate Schauffele and four others. Gojuangco offset two bogeys with three birdies, including two straight on holes 14-15 to highlight his round.
New Mexico (-20), which entered the day in third place, rallied to capture the team title over TCU (-19) and Oklahoma State (-12), followed by Arkansas (-9) and Texas A&M (-7).
Despite shooting a final-round 75, Julien Brun of TCU (-8) held on for a one-shot victory over Texas A&M's unattached Ben Crancer (-7) to capture medalist honors.
The Aztecs will head to the Bay Area for their next tournament when they compete in the U.S. Intercollegiate, March 28-30, at Stanford University.
Don Puckette National Invitational TournamentFinal ResultsOmni Tucson National G.C.Tucson, Ariz.Par 72, 7,200 yards
Team Scores (Top 5 of 16 teams + SDSU)1. New Mexico 277-288-279--844 (-20)2. TCU 279-281-285--845 (-19)3. Oklahoma State 276-283-293--852 (-12)4. Arkansas 282-287-286--855 (-9)5. Texas A&M 285-290-284--859 (-5)---8. San Diego State 279-287-301--867 (+3)
Individual Leaders (Top 5 of 90 + SDSU)1. Julien Brun, TCU 68-65-75--208 (-8)2. Ben Crancer, Texas A&M* 67-70-72--209 (-7)T3. Victor Perez, New Mexico 72-69-69--210 (-6)T3. Thomas Sorenson, Arkansas 70-67-73--210 (-6)T3. Daniel Jennevret, TCU 68-72-70--210 (-6)T3. Bryson Dechambeau, SMU 71-69-70--210 (-6)----T10. Tom Berry, SDSU 73-68-72--213 (-3)T29. Xander Schauffele, SDSU 66-78-74--218 (+2)T29. Robert Gojuangco, SDSU* 75-72-71--218 (+3)T44. Austin Kaiser, SDSU 68-75-78--221 (+5)T47. Riccardo Michelini, SDSU 72-73-77--222 (+6)T67. James Holley, SDSU 78-71-79--228 (+12)
*competed as an individual