SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's golf team will be aiming for its fourth conference title in the last nine seasons this weekend when it travels to the desert for the Mountain West Championship, April 26-28, in Tucson, Ariz.
For the 12th time in the last 13 years, the 54-hole event will be contested on the Catalina Course at the OMNI Tucson National Golf Club, which will play as a par-72, 7,194-yard track.
The 11-team field will play 18 holes on each of the three days, with a live scoring link available on GoAztecs.com courtesy of Golfstat.
The Aztecs, who have been idle since April 17, earned the No. 7 seed are slated to tee off with No. 6 New Mexico in the third group on Friday, starting at 8:20 a.m. MST/PDT, while the pairings for the final two rounds with be based on team standings.
SDSU, which received a No. 72 ranking in the latest Golfstat index, will be returning to the Catalina Course for the second time this season after finishing ninth at the University of Arizona's National Invitational Tournament, March 18-19.
Aztec Lineup
San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan has shuffled his lineup once again to include the starting five of sophomore Christian Banke (Danville, Calif.), fellow classmate Puwit Anupansuebsai (Nakhon Phanom, Thailand), senior Otto Vanhatalo (Espoo, Finland), sophomore Steve Sugimoto (San Diego, Calif.) and freshman Leo Oyo (Tokyo, Japan).
Anupansuebsai is the lone golfer in the bunch with experience at the Mountain West Championship after tying for 27th with a 9-over 225 last year at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., where the Scarlet and Black finished eighth at 20-over 884.
Banke leads the Aztecs with a 72.87 scoring average this season, followed closely by Anuapansuebsai (72.88) and Sugimoto (73.19), while Vanhatalo (74.25) and Oyo (74.57) look to narrow the gap.
Banke has been SDSU's No. 1 player in three straight tournaments, including a tie for 17th in his last outing at the historic Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz, Calif., where he shot a 2-over 212 on the par-70 Pasatiempo Golf Course to finish two strokes ahead of Vanhatalo, who tied for 26th with a season-best 214.
The Competition
Six of the Aztecs' opponents this weekend find themselves among the top 100 in the latest Golfstat rankings released April 24. Three-time defending champion UNLV is the highest rated team of the group, checking in at No. 34, followed by Colorado State (44), San José State (49), Nevada (50), New Mexico (70) and Boise State (74). SDSU will also battle Wyoming (104), Fresno State (118), Boise State (124), Utah State (178) and Air Force (212).
The Aztecs own an 11-14 record in head-to-head results against nine conference adversaries during the 2018-19 campaign, including unblemished marks against Wyoming (3-0), Air Force (2-0) and Fresno State (2-0). In addition, SDSU has topped Colorado State (2-3) on two occasions and has split a pair of encounters with Nevada (1-1). Conversely, the Aztecs have dropped three of four meetings vs. New Mexico (1-3) and have come up empty against Boise State (0-1), UNLV (0-2) and San José State (0-4), while Utah State is the lone MW school SDSU has not faced in a regularly scheduled tournament this year.
Just 10 of the top-20 individual finishers are returning from last season's Mountain West Championship, including San José State's Sean Yu and New Mexico's Galven Green, who tied for third with a 2-under 214, while 2017 medalist Brian Humphreys of Boise State was one stroke behind in a tie for fifth, along with Colorado State's A.J. Ott and Jake Staiano. In addition, Fresno State's Alex Lee (T-9th, E) is back in the mix, along with the UNLV trio of Jack Trent (12th, +2), Harry Hall (T-13th, +3) and Justin Kim (T-13th, +3), as well as Nevada's Joey Vrzich (T-17th, +4).
Aztecs at the MW Championship
In the 20-year history of the Mountain West, San Diego State has won three team championships, capturing back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012, followed by a thrilling victory in 2015. The Aztecs also tied for the top spot in 2009, but lost in a team playoff to TCU after rallying from a five-stroke deficit in regulation.
In addition, SDSU has finished second seven times (2014, 2013, 2010, 2009, 2006, 2003, 2001), placed fourth on five occasions (2005, 2004, 2002, 2016, 2017), came in fifth twice (2007, 2000) and ended up in the seventh (2008) and eighth (2018) positions once each.
The Aztecs' best individual finish was recorded in 2001 when John Lepak posted a 3-over 219 to win by one stroke at Sunriver Resort in Oregon. SDSU's Adam Porzak also tied for first place in regulation in 2007, but came up just short in a one-hole playoff loss to Robby Ormand of TCU, while Riccardo Michelini experienced a nearly identical fate in 2014, falling to New Mexico's Gavin Green on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff. In 2015, former All-American Xander Schauffele finished just two shots off the pace in second at 9-under 204 to set an SDSU record for lowest 54-hole score at a conference tournament. In 2017, Gunn Yang tied for third after carding a 7-under 209, while Nahum Mendoza III tied for third in 2016 as well at 6-under 210.
The Aztecs, who have fared routinely well on the individual leaderboard at the MW tournament, failed to land at least one player among the top four for the first time in 13 seasons last year after Blake Abercrombie and Trevor Norby both tied for 13th at 3-over 219.
A Look At the Course
For the 12th time in the last 13 years, the Mountain West Championship will be held on the Catalina Course at the OMNI Tucson National Golf Club. Designed by Robert Van Hagge and Bruce Devlin, the Catalina Course is known for its magnificent views, traditional parkland-style layout and tree-lined fairways. Nestled in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains, the course also includes eight sparkling lakes and 80 bunkers, while the 18th hole is considered to be one of the finest and most challenging finishing holes on the PGA Tour. Home to over 30 PGA events, including the prestigious Chrysler Classic of Tucson from 1997-2006, as well as several NCAA tournaments, the Tucson National has been selected as one of Golf Digest magazine's "75 Best Golf Resorts in North America."
Mountain West History 101
A total of six schools have won at least one Mountain West title with three, New Mexico, San Diego State and UNLV claiming consecutive championships. The Lobos captured four straight crowns from 2003-06 before earning the top prize in 2013 and 2014, while the Aztecs emerged triumphant in 2011 and 2012, followed by another conquest in 2015. UNLV (2000, 2002, 2016, 2017) became a four-time winner a year ago after taking home its second consecutive trophy, while Colorado State (2008, 2010) and former member Brigham Young (2001, 2007) each earned a pair of titles. In addition, TCU came away with its lone championship as a MW affiliate in 2009 when it edged SDSU in a team playoff.
Seven different schools have had a player win the individual title, including SDSU (2001), UNLV (2000, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015), New Mexico (2003, 2009, 2014), Colorado State (2002, 2010), Boise State (2017), Fresno State (2016), TCU (2007) and BYU (2005).
The inaugural MW Championships took place on the Nicklaus Tournament Course at the PGA West complex in La Quinta, Calif., before moving to the Crosswater Course at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Ore., for six consecutive seasons from 2001-06. The conference tournament completed a lengthy 11-year run from 2007-2017 in Arizona on the Catalina Course at the OMNI Tucson National Resort, returning to the same desert venue after a one-year stop in 2018 at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.
Head Coach Ryan Donovan
Ryan Donovan is in his 16th season at the helm of the SDSU men's golf program after serving as an assistant in 2003. Since taking the reins, he has directed the Aztecs to 30 tournament titles and six NCAA national championship appearances. In 2011, 2012 and 2015, he received Mountain West Coach of the Year honors and was named a finalist for the Dave Williams Award, which is handed out annually to the national coach of the year in Division I men's golf. Donovan was also was tabbed the Eaton Golf Pride West Region Division I Men's Coach of the Year by the GCAA following the 2010-11 campaign. A native of Yorba Linda, Calif., Donovan was a four-year member of the Aztec golf squad before graduating in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in public administration.
Men's Golf Set For MW Championship
