Men's Golf Finishes Fifth at MW Championship

TUCSON, Ariz. – Despite logging its lowest collective score of the week, the San Diego State men's golf team finished in fifth place at the 2019 Mountain West Championship on Sunday after carding a 9-under-par 279 during the final round at OMNI Tucson National Golf Club.

The Aztecs recorded the field's third-best team total over the final 18 holes, but still slipped one notch in the standings, completing the tournament with a combined 24-under 840 on the par-72, 7,194-yard Catalina Course.

Entering the day in third place, New Mexico (-33) shot a 14-under 274 to win the team title by three strokes over Colorado State (-30), which slipped into second after a posting a 280, while Fresno State (-26) landed in the third spot, followed closely by UNLV (-25) and SDSU.

Individually, the Aztecs were paced by sophomores Puwit Anupansuebsai and Christian Banke, who tied for eighth at 8-under 208 after each fired a final-round 69.

Anupansuebsai offset a bogey at the par-4 ninth with an eagle-3 on the 511-yard No. 10 after sinking birdies on a pair of par-4 holes at No. 1 and No. 3.

Banke also recorded an eagle at the par-5, 535-yard No. 2, countering two bogeys on the front nine with a trio of birdies. After a hiccup at No. 9, he played spot-free golf the rest of the way with successful drains on the 16th and 18th greens, the latter of which ranked as the most difficult hole of the weekend.

With their performances, Anupansuebsai and Banke finished five shots behind New Mexico's Sean Carlon and Galven Green, who completed regulation play at 13-under 203, before Green defeated his Lobo teammate on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff to capture medalist honors. Boise State's Cameron Barzekoff (-12) jumped into third after tying for the day's low round with a 66, while Fresno State's Alex Lee (-11) ended up in fourth.

SDSU sported two additional top-25 performers in Leo Oyo (Tokyo, Japan) and Steve Sugimoto (San Diego, Calif.).

Oyo slipped five places into a tie for 23rd at 2-under 214 after shooting a 73. The Aztec freshman collected a team-high five birdies, including consecutive makes at No. 9 and No. 10. However, six bogeys, including three on his first four holes, proved too much to overcome.

Conversely, Sugimoto climbed five places on the leaderboard into the 25th position at 1-under 215, courtesy of a final-round 71. The SDSU sophomore ranked third in the field with 40 pars for the week, including 13 on Sunday. The Rancho Bernardo High alumnus also notched three birdies, including an impressive conversion on the par-3, 186-yard No. 17, which ranked as the fifth-most difficult hole of the tournament.
 
Rounding out the Aztec starting five was Joey Moore (Billings, Mont.), a traveling alternate who was inserted into the lineup for the final round, where he posted the team's second-lowest score of the day with a 70. The SDSU freshman drained four birdies and made eagle as well at No. 10, but three bogeys tempered his card somewhat.

San Diego State will await word of its postseason fate on Wednesday, May 1, when NCAA regional bids are announced live on the Golf Channel, starting at 6 p.m. PT.
 
2019 MW Championship
Tucson, Ariz.
Final Results
OMNI Tucson National G.C.
Catalina Course
Par 72, 7,194 yards
 
Team Standings (11 schools)
1. New Mexico...279-278-274—831 (-33)
2. Colorado State...279-275-280—834 (-30)
3. Fresno State...282-281-275—838 (-26)
4. UNLV...282-274-283—839 (-25)
5. San Diego State...281-280-279—840 (-24)
6. Boise State...280-285-281—846 (-18)
7. Wyoming...284-282-281—847 (-17)
8. Nevada...283-283-287—853 (-11)
9. San José State...290-282-293—865 (+1)
10. Air Force...294-292-287—873 (+9)
11. Utah State...288-294-300—882 (+18)
 
Individual Leaders (Top 7 of 55 players + SDSU)       
T1. Galven Green, New Mexico...70-66-67—203 (-13)* 
T1. Sean Carlon, New Mexico...67-68-68—203 (-13) 
3. Cameron Barzekoff, Boise State...70-68-66—204 (-12)
4. Alex Lee, Fresno State...67-70-68—205 (-11)
T5. John Murdock...69-70-68—207 (-9)
T5. A.J. Ott, Colorado State...69-69-69—207 (-9)
T5. Justin Kim, UNLV...68-72-67—207 (-9) 
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T8. Puwit Anupansuebsai, SDSU...68-71-69—208 (-8)
T8. Christian Banke, SDSU...68-71-69—208 (-8)
T23. Leo Oyo, SDSU...73-68-73—214 (-2)
T25. Steve Sugimoto, SDSU...74-70-71—215 (-1)
55. Joey Moore, SDSU...70 (-2)^
 
* - won on third sudden-death playoff hole
^ - alternate who played the final round only