SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team will be aiming for its fourth conference title in the last 10 championships this weekend when it travels to Tucson, Ariz., for the Mountain West Championships, April 30-May 1.
For the 13th time in the last 14 championships, 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 36 holes on Friday and 18 holes in the final round on Saturday with a live scoring link available on GoAztecs.com courtesy of Golfstat.
The Aztecs, who are ranked 24th in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll, 25th in the Golfweek/Sagarin computer rankings and 26th in the Golfstat computer rankings, will tee off from the first hole with New Mexico and Boise State on Friday, starting at 7 a.m. PT, while the pairings Saturday's final round will be based on team standings.
SDSU is returning to the Catalina Course for the second time this season after taking fourth out of a loaded 18-team field at the National Invitational Tournament from March 20-21. San Diego State fired a final round 13-under-par 275 and finished the 54-hole tournament at 29-under 835. Five other MW teams competed in the same tournament with the Aztecs with New Mexico leading the way in seventh at 14-under 850, followed by UNLV (11th, E), Nevada (13th, +6), Wyoming (15th, +8) and Colorado State (17th, +22).
Steve Sugimoto led the way for SDSU at the N.I.T., tying for ninth out of 104 players at 10-under 206. Zihao Jin was two shots behind in a tie for 14th at 8-under, while Callum Bruce (T-28th, -3), Puwit Anupansuebsai (T-30th, -2), Joey Moore (T-44th, 3) and Youssef Guezzale (T-61st, +2).
On the season, San Diego State has won a pair of team championships (Jan. 25-27 at the Southwestern Invitational and April 5-6 at the Wyoming Classic) and four top-5 finishes in six events.
Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan has gone with the lineup of Anupansuebsai, Jin, Bruce, Sugimoto and Guezzale for the MW Championship .
Anupansuebsai has played in a pair of MW championships, taking tying for eighth at the last tournament in 2019 (the 2020 version was canceled because of COVID) at 8-under 208 and tying for 27th at the 2018 tournament, which was held at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash. Anupansuebsai also leads SDSU with a 71.28 stroke average, thanks to back-to-back recent impressive finishes. The reigning MW Golfer of the Year tied for second at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic at 12-under 204 and lost in a playoff in his last time out at the Western Intercollegiate at 5-under 205. He also paces San Diego State in rounds in the 60s (6) and rounds below par (8), and is second in even-par rounds (4).
Jin, meanwhile, is third on the team in scoring average (72.39) and tied for second with four rounds in the 60s. Jin's 8-under 64 in the final round of the N.I.T. on the same Catalina Course he'll be playing this weekend was the lowest score of the tournament. He had a remarkable seven birdies through his first eight holes and finished with eight overall in a bogey-free round.
Bruce enters the weekend second on the team with a 71.75 stroke average. After not playing in the team's first two events of the season, Bruce has been a regular fixture in the last four, highlighted by a T5 at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic at 11-under 205. Four of Bruce's 12 rounds played this year have been in the 60s.
Sugimoto, meanwhile, tied for 25th at the 2019 MW Championship on the same Tucson course at 1-under 215. On the season, the senior is fourth on the team with a 72.44 scoring average, while his six rounds below par are tied for second. Sugimoto has a pair of top-20 finishes on the season with his best placing coming at the N.I.T. (T-9th, -10).
Guezzale is the final Aztec in the starting lineup and enters the weekend with a 72.89 stroke average. Guezzale has led the team twice this year in six events, tying or third at even-par 216 at the opening Southwestern Invitational and tying for 17th at the Lamkin Invitational at 3-over 219 while competing as an individual. He also tied for 14th at 5-under 211 at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic.
SDSU is one of seven teams ranked among the top 100 in the latest Golfstat rankings at No. 26, followed closely by No. 28. Also in the mix are Boise State (46), Nevada (62), UNLV (79), Colorado State (89) and Fresno State (97), while San José State (113), Utah State (118), Wyoming (121) and Air Force (231) round out the field.
San Diego State has been successful in head-to-head results against eight conference teams during the 2021 campaign, going a combined 17-3, including unblemished marks against Wyoming (4-0), San José State (3-0), Air Force (2-0), UNLV (2-0) and Utah State (1-0). The Aztecs are also 2-1 against both Colorado State and Nevada, and 1-1 against New Mexico. Boise State and Fresno State are the only two teams SDSU has yet to play in the same tournament.
In the 21-year history of the MW (not counting last year's cancellation), 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 (2001, 2003, 2006, 2009-10, 2013-14), played fourth on five occasions (2002, 2004-05, 2016-17), came in fifth in three tournaments (2000, 2007, 2019), and ended up in the seventh (2008) and eighth (2018) positions once each.
San Diego State's 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. The Aztecs also have playoff losses by Adam Porzak in 2007 and Riccardo Michelini in 2014, and other top-3 finishes by Xander Schauffele (2nd, 2015), Nahum Mandoza III (T-3rd, 2016) and Gunn Yang (T-3rd, 2017). SDSU, which has routinely fared well on the individual leaderboard at the MW tournament, has failed to land at least one player in the top 4 in each of the last two MW championships (2018-19) after doing so in the previous 12 league tournaments.
The OMNI Tucson National Golf Club is designed by Robert Van Hagge and Bruce Devlin with the Catalina Course being 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."
New Mexico has won a league-record seven MW crowns, followed by UNLV (5), San Diego State (3), Colorado State (2), former conference member Brigham Young (2) and former member TCU (1).
Additionally, eight different schools have had a player win the individual title, including SDSU (2001), UNLV (2000, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2018), New Mexico (2003, 2006, 2009, 2014, 2019), Colorado State (2002, 2010), Boise State (2017), Fresno State (2016), TCU (2007, 2012) and BYU (2005).
No. 24 Men’s Golf Set for Mountain West Championship
