SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team continues postseason play Monday for the NCAA Kingston Springs Regional in Kingston Springs, Tenn. The Aztecs, who are making their 21st regional appearance in the last 22 tournaments, will be among the field vying for a spot in the NCAA Championships, slated for May 28-June 2, at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.
SDSU earned the No. 5 seed out of 13 teams in the Kingston Springs Regional, earning an at-large bid after winning two tournaments (Southwestern Invitational from Jan. 25-27 and Wyoming Cowboy Classic from April 5-6) and logging five top-five finishes in seven events in the spring season. Kingston, Tenn. (Vanderbilt) is one of six regional tournaments that will also be played concurrently in Noblesville, Ind. (Ball State), Tallahassee, Fla. (Florida State), Albuquerque, N.M. (New Mexico), Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State) and Cle Elum, Wash. (Washington).
San Diego State is ranked 25th in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll (released April 30) and Golfweek/Sagarin ratings (May 4), and 26th in the Golfstat ratings (May 5). Joining the Aztecs at the par-71, 7,074-yard Golf Club of Tennessee this week will be seven teams ranked in the Golfstat top 50, including Clemson (3), North Carolina State (10), Vanderbilt (13), Arkansas (24), Virginia (33), Charlotte (42) and Kent State (46). Also in the field are UTSA (52), Houston (60), Loyola (Md.) (113), UConn (139) and Iona (239), along with 10 individuals. The top-five squads and lowest individual not on those teams from each regional will advance to Scottsdale.
Teams will complete 18 holes (54 total) of stroke play each of the three days following a practice round on Sunday. SDSU is paired with Arkansas and Virginia for Monday's first round, which is set to begin on the No. 10 tee at 8 a.m. CT (6 a.m. PT), while starting times for Tuesday and Wednesday will be determined by team finishes.
Live hole-by-hole results courtesy of Golfstat will be available for all three rounds on GoAztecs.com.
San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan will accompany five golfers to the Nashville area, including all-Mountain West performers Puwit Anupansuebsai and Steve Sugimoto, along with Youssef Guezzale, Callum Bruce and Zihao Jin. The aforementioned quintet has been utilized in three tournaments this year, taking fourth (National Invitational Tournament from March 20-21), first (Wyoming Cowboy Classic from April 5-6) and a tie for third (Mountain West Championship from April 30-May 1).
Sugimoto and Anupansuebsai are the only Aztecs with NCAA Regional experience, having both competed in the NCAA Normal Regional in 2018 in Norman, Okla. Sugimoto finished in a tie for 29th, while Anupansuebsai tied for 59th as SDSU finished 10th of 14 teams.
Anupansuebsai (71.05), Sugimoto (72.29) and Jin (72.62) are the only three players to start all seven tournaments for San Diego State during the spring campaign. Guezzale (72.52) has started six times and played in all seven, while Bruce (71.93) has been in the Aztec starting lineup each of the last five tournaments.
Since the NCAA regional format was adopted in 1989, SDSU has received a bid on 24 occasions, including a streak of 20 straight from 1999 to 2018. This season marks the second straight regional appearance in the Central time zone and third overall (also 2014 in Columbia, Mo.).
San Diego State has advanced through regional competition into the national championship series on eight occasions, highlighted by a team title at OMNI Tucson National Golf Club in 2011, where the Scarlet and Black posted the program's lowest combined score in regional play with a 19-under 833 en route to a seven-stroke victory.
The following season at Stanford Golf Course in 2012, the Aztecs turned in a second-place finish, with two-time All-American J.J. Spaun setting three team regional records, including lowest score (12-under 198), lowest round (7-under 63) and best individual finish (2nd).
SDSU also landed in the runner-up spot at the New Haven Regional in 2015, where four players finished among the individual top 25, including former Aztec All-American Xander Schauffele, who tied for fifth at 3-under 207.
In 2016, the Aztecs added one of the most dramatic performances to the program's postseason lore after defeating Texas A&M on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to secure the Albuquerque Regional's fifth and final spot at the NCAA Championships. On the first playoff hole, former U.S. Amateur champion Gunn Yang holed out for a double-eagle with a 7-iron from 218 yards away, while Ryann Ree made an eagle of his own as the Aztecs topped the Aggies by three strokes (-5 to -2) on the par-5, 544-yard No. 1.
Remarkably, SDSU has only faced off with one of the 12 other teams in the Kingston Springs Regional. Both teams participated in the N.I.T., where San Diego State took fourth of 18 teams at 29-under 835, while the Cougars were 12th at 3-over 8.
The Golf Club of Tennessee is consistently recognized as one of the top two courses in the state of Tennessee, and was recognized by Golf Week as one of America's 100 Best Modern Courses. Also in 2006, Golf Digest Index ranked The Golf Club of Tennessee as one of America's 50 Greatest Golf Retreats. The Golf Club of Tennessee has also hosted The Vinny Pro-Celebrity-Am, The DICK'S Sporting Goods Collegiate Challenge Cup and the 2018 U.S. Women's Amateur Championship.