Nov. 4, 2015
Final PDF Results | Final Results
CARLSBAD, Calif. -- The San Diego State men's golf team closed out its fall schedule with a third-place finish on Wednesday after shooting a 9-over par 293 during the final round of the Gifford Collegiate at OMNI La Costa Resort. The Aztecs were unable to gain ground on the leaders from the previous day, completing the 54-hole tournament at 13-over 865 on the par-71, 6,996-yard Legends Course.
Washington (-6) took home the team title after carding a final-round 286 to top runner-up Stanford (+3) by nine strokes, while host UCLA (+14) finished in fourth just behind SDSU, followed by fifth-place Arkansas (+16).
Despite notching just seven birdies as a team on Wednesday, the Aztecs still had three players land in the individual top 20, led by sophomore Gunn Yang (Pyeongchang, South Korea) and senior Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy), who tied for eighth at 1-over 214.
Yang recorded SDSU's lowest round of the day with an even-par 71, balancing two bogeys with back-to-back birdies on the 12th and 13th greens to climb four places on the leaderboard. In addition, the 2014 U.S. Amateur champion logged 14 pars to secure his second top-10 finish of the season.
Michelini experienced a reversal of fortune, however, slipping three spots in the standings on the heels of a final-round 74. The native Italian opened with a birdie, but managed just one more conversion the rest of the day on the par-5, 524-yard No. 7, as five bogeys proved too much to overcome. Despite the stumble, Michelini still sealed in his third top-10 effort of the year and ninth as a collegian.
With their results, Yang and Michelini finished five shots off the pace as medalist honors were split three ways between Washington teammates Chris Babcock and Corey Pereira, along with Stanford's Maverick McNealy, who tied a tournament-low with a 67 on Wednesday to claim a share of the title. Jonathan Garrick of UCLA (-3) landed in the third position one stroke behind the leaders, while another UW golfer Frank Garber and David Boote of Stanford tied for fifth.
In his first varsity start of the season, Aztec junior Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego, Calif.) turned in a 16th-place performance, firing a final-round 73 for a collective total of 4-over 217. The Francis Parker High product tied for the tournament lead with 40 pars for the week, including a team-high 15 on Wednesday to jump two places on the leaderboard. Mendoza added a birdie on No. 17 to offset a bogey on the par-3, 215-yard 14th; however, a costly double-bogey-6 at No. 18 prevented a more substantial gain.
Rounding out the SDSU starting lineup were Ryann Ree (Redondo Beach, Calif.) and Blake Abercrombie (Rocklin, Calif.), who each recorded a 75 over the final 18 holes. Ree was plagued early on by two bogeys and a triple on the par-3, 155-yard eighth, before rebounding with a pair of birdies against one bogey after the turn. Despite a solid close, the Aztec senior tumbled five spots into a tie for 31st at 7-over 220.
Meanwhile, Abercrombie finished seven shots behind Ree in a tie for 60th at 14-over 227. The SDSU sophomore opened the final round with consecutive bogeys, but logged just two additional blemishes on his scorecard this rest of the way while collecting 14 pars.
With four top-five team finishes under their belts this fall, the Aztecs will now head into their annual winter hiatus rife with optimism before returning to action next spring for The Prestige at PGA West, Feb. 15-17, 2016, in La Quinta, Calif.
Gifford CollegiateFinal ResultsOMNI La Costa Resort & SpaLegends CourseCarlsbad, Calif.Par 71, 6,996 yards
Team Scores (Top 5 of 15 schools + SDSU)1. Washington...285-275-286--846 (-6)2. Stanford...285-277-293--855 (+3)3. San Diego State...290-282-293--865 (+13)4. UCLA...287-288-291--866 (+14)5. Arkansas...290-289-289--868 (+16)
Individual Leaders (Top 6 of 81 players + SDSU)T1. Maverick McNealy, Stanford...72-70-67--209 (-4)T1. Chris Babcock, Washington...71-69-69--209 (-4)T1. Corey Pereira, Washington...69-68-72--209 (-4)4. Jonathan Garrick, UCLA...71-70-69--210 (-3)T5. Frank Garber, Washington...72-69-71--212 (-1)T5. David Boote, Stanford...71-68-73--212 (-1)---T8. Gunn Yang, SDSU...72-71-71--214 (+1)T8. Riccardo Michelini, SDSU...69-71-74--214 (+1)T16. Nahum Mendoza III, SDSU...74-70-73--217 (+4)T31. Ryann Ree, SDSU...75-70-75--220 (+7)T60. Blake Abercrombie, SDSU...78-74-75--227 (+14)