May 5, 2016
SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's golf team will travel to the Land of Enchantment for the 2016 Albuquerque Regional, May 16-18, as announced Thursday by the NCAA selection committee. The 22nd-ranked Aztecs received a No. 4 seed for their school-record 18th consecutive regional appearance and 21st overall since the regional format was established in 1989.
Under the guidance of head coach Ryan Donovan, SDSU earned one of 50 at-large berths after posting their 10th top-five team finish of the season with a fourth-place tie at the Mountain West Championship, April 22-24. A total of 81 NCAA Division I schools received invitations to compete in one of the six regional tournaments that will also be played concurrently in Marana, Ariz. (Arizona), Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State), Kohler, Wis. (Marquette), Franklin, Tenn. (Vanderbilt) and Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Alabama).
The University of New Mexico will serve as host to the Albuquerque Regional, which features 14 squads and five individuals in addition to the Aztecs. Teams will play 18 holes (54 total) on each of the three days on the par-72, 7,562-yard UNM South Championship Course, following a practice round on Sunday, May 15. A live hole-by-hole scoring link will be available for all three rounds courtesy of Golfstat on GoAztecs.com.
The top five finishing teams and the highest placing individual not on those squads from each of the six regionals will advance to the NCAA Championship series, set for May 27-June 1 at Eugene Country Club in Eugene, Ore.
SDSU has traveled to the Duke City in eight of the past 11 seasons to compete at UNM's William H. Tucker Intercollegiate. Last September, the Scarlet and Black placed fifth out of 16 teams with a combined 8-over 872 for the tournament. The Aztecs also ventured to Albuquerque for regional competition in 1995 and 2002.
San Diego State was one of just three Mountain West schools to earn a regional berth in 2016, joining New Mexico (No. 7 seed - Albuquerque Regional) and UNLV (No. 5 seed - Tuscaloosa Regional). In addition, the league will be represented by one individual, Trevor Clayton of Fresno State, who will compete in the Albuquerque Regional as well.
The Aztecs are enjoying another banner campaign, posting two tournament victories thus far to go with eight top-five placements. The Scarlet and Black has displayed incredible depth this year with five different golfers leading the team in 11 events.
Individually, SDSU is led by junior Nahum Mendoza III (San Diego, Calif.), who garnered MW Men's Golfer of the Year honors and is currently ranked 14th in the nation according to Golfstat. The Aztecs also boast two additional all-conference performers in seniors Riccardo Michelini (Carpi, Italy) and Ryann Ree (Redondo Beach, Calif.).
The Aztecs have qualified for nationals 23 times in school history, including seven occasions (1999, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015) since the regional format made its debut. SDSU claimed its first-ever NCAA regional crown in 2011, after finishing in the top spot by seven strokes as the No. 2 seed in Tucson, Ariz., followed by runner-up performances at Stanford, Calif., and New Haven, Conn., respectively, in 2012 and 2015.
2016 NCAA Albuquerque Regional
UNM South Championship Course
Par 72, 7,562 yards
Albuquerque, N.M.
May 16-18
Host: New Mexico
Teams (Seeded in descending order; automatic berths in parentheses)
1. USC
2. Arizona State
3. South Florida (American Athletic Conference)
4. San Diego State
5. Texas A&M
6. North Carolina State
7. New Mexico
8. Texas Tech
9. TCU
10. Iowa
11. Liberty (Big South Conference)
12. Army (Patriot League)
13. Cleveland State (Horizon League)
14. Wagner College (Northeast Conference)
Individuals
1. Hayden Shieh, Santa Clara
2. Patrick Fishburn, Brigham Young
3. Frederik Dreier, UTEP
4. Trevor Clayton, Fresno State
5. Nicholas Dilio, Saint Peter's