Oct. 11, 2014
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's golf team wraps up its fall schedule next week when it competes in the Alister MacKenzie Invitational, Oct. 13-14, at the par-71, 6,734-yard Meadow Club in Fairfax, California.
The first 36 holes of the two-day event will be held on Monday, beginning with a shotgun start at 8:15 a.m. PT, while final-round action gets underway Tuesday at 7:45 a.m. PT with tee times off holes 1 and 10. A live scoring link courtesy of Golfstat will be available on www.goaztecs.com.
The 29th-ranked Aztecs will square off against seven additional squads among the top 75 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, including host and No. 19 California, No. 28 Colorado, No. 37 Michigan, No. 47 Oregon State, No. 53 Arizona State, No. 56 Washington State and No. 68 Brigham Young. In addition, SDSU will battle Mountain West foe San José State, while Hawai'i, Minnesota, Pepperdine, Princeton, Saint Mary's, San Francisco and UC Davis comprise the remainder of the 16-school field.
Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan has shuffled the lineup for his Marin County excursion. In addition to senior Xander Schauffele (San Diego, Calif.), freshman PJ Samiere (Kailua, Hawaii) and junior Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy), the Scarlet and Black will be represented by a pair of first-time starters in sophomore Brian Song (Beverly Hills, Calif.) and junior Michael Koeneke (San Diego, Calif.).
Koeneke saw action as an individual competitor at the season-opening Southwestern Intercollegiate in Westlake Village last month, while Song will be making his first appearance for the Aztecs since participating as an unattached golfer at the Lamkin Grips Classic last spring at San Diego Country Club.
Schauffele, who leads the squad with a 71.67 scoring average, enters the week with a No. 55 individual ranking by Golfweek. In addition, the Scripps Ranch High alumnus coming off a pair of top-four finishes last month at the University of Washington's Husky Invitational and the William H. Tucker Invitational in New Mexico.
After moving to the par-72, 7,103-yard Sonoma Golf Club last season, the Alister MacKenzie Invitational returns to the exclusive Meadow Club, site of the tournament's 11 previous installments. SDSU placed eighth out of 16 schools in 2013 with a collective score of 9-under 855, while Schauffele was the team's top individual finisher after firing a 5-under 211 to tie for the 10th spot. Elsewhere, Michelini landed in a tie for the 18th position with a 2-under 214.
SDSU, which is making its seventh overall appearance at the event, captured the team title in 2007 with a combined 24-under 828 after vaulting over six teams during a furious final-round rally to finish four strokes in front of second-place Washington. The Scarlet and Black also sported the individual winner in 2010, as Alex Kang fired a 16-under 197 to claim a one-shot victory over teammate Todd Baek and Ben An of California.
Cal has won the Alister MacKenzie Invitational eight times in the tournament's history, including last year when it shot a 39-under 825 to win handily by 22 strokes over runner-up UC Davis. With the departure of the Golden Bears' 2013 medalist Joel Stalter, Jon Rahm of Arizona State (6th), Colorado's Jeremy Paul (T-7th) and Joe Parkinson of BYU (T-7th) are the tournament's top returning individuals.
Following their Bay Area trek, the Aztecs will have nearly four months off before resuming competition next spring, beginning with the Barona Collegiate Cup, scheduled for Feb. 9-10, 2015, at Barona Creek Golf Club in Lakeside, California.