March 9, 2014
Live Results
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team returns to the course this week when it competes in the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic, March 10-11. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, co-hosted by the Aztecs and the University of San Diego, will be conducted at the par-72, 7,033-yard San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif.
SDSU is among of a field of 13 teams participating in the seventh annual event. Three of the schools are ranked in the nation's top 50 by Golfstat.com, including the 40th-ranked Aztecs, No. 22 USC and No. 44 Wake Forest, while Cal State San Marcos, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oregon State, Pepperdine, Saint Joseph's, Seattle, UC Irvine, USD and Utah round out the list of competing squads.
Day one will feature a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. PDT, while the final round gets underway Tuesday with tee times on holes No. 1 and No. 10 as early as 7:30 a.m. Live results for both days will be available courtesy of Golfstat on www.goaztecs.com.
SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan's starting lineup will feature junior Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.), freshman Ricky DeSantis (Carlsbad, Calif.), sophomore Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy), senior Austin Kaiser (Atascadero, Calif.) and freshman Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego. Calif.).
In addition, several Aztecs will compete as individuals, including junior James Holley (Chatsworh, Calif, sophomore Michael Koenke (San Diego, Calif.), along with redshirt freshmen Ben Rogers (Rosebud, Australia), Brian Song (Beverly Hills, Callif.) and Gunn Yang (Pyeong Chang,South Korea).
SDSU is coming off its first tournament title of the season at Pepperdine's Jones Invitational two weeks ago in Somis, Calif. Bolstered by four top-six performers, the Aztecs edged USC by one shot at the challenging Saticoy Country Club. Individually, the Scarlet and Black was led by Michelini, who posted his highest collegiate finish with a runner-up performance after carding posting a 1-over 217, while Schauffele (+4) took fourth, followed by DeSantis (+6) and Kaiser (+6), who tied for the sixth position.
The Aztecs are also the defending Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic champions. Last season, the Scarlet and Black (E) held off TCU (+3) and Arizona State (+3) for the team title, while USD's Grant Forrest is the tournament's top returning individual after recording a second-place result in 2013 with a 5-under 211. In addition, Schauffele was SDSU's highest finisher after landing in a three-way tie for third at 4-under 212, followed by Kaiser, who landed in the sixth spot at 2-under 214.
Through two tournaments this spring, Michelini owns the Aztecs' top stroke average (72.50), followed closely by DeSantis (72.82) and Schauffele (73.00).
The Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic is entering its seventh season and fourth as a two-day, 54-hole event. The tournament, previously known as the San Diego Intercollegiate, was christened in 2008 primarily as an opportunity for local schools to compete against one another. The event has now expanded from local competition to host teams from all across the nation.
This is the fifth time and fourth year in a row that the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic will be held at San Diego Country Club. The inaugural event took place at the Chula Vista course and moved to the La Jolla Country Club in 2009, followed by a one-year run at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., in 2010. Before becoming a two-day tournament in 2011, the tournament was a one-day, 36-hole competition.
Prior to San Diego State's title last year, USD captured the team championship in 2008 and 2010, Point Loma Nazarene in 2009, SMU in 2011, while Washington grabbed the top spot in 2012.
Following the Lamkin Grips San Diego Classic, the Aztecs will head to the desert for the Don Puckette National Invitational Tournament, March 14-16, in Tucson, Ariz.