SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The San Diego State men's golf team put the finishing touches on its preparations for the 2021 NCAA Championships with an 18-hole practice round Thursday at Grayhawk Country Club.
The Aztecs began their practice at 7:18 a.m. PT from the first hole, featuring the starting lineup of Puwit Anupansuebsai (Nakhon Phanom, Thailand), Callum Bruce (Banff, Scotland), Youssef Guezzale (San Diego, Calif./La Jolla HS), Zihao Jin (Beijing, China/Rancho Bernardo HS (Calif.)) and Steve Sugimoto (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo HS).
SDSU played each hole, specifically focusing on its short game. After holing out, San Diego State's five golfers played to multiple different pin locations it could see in the coming days. The Aztecs worked on chipping and pitching from the rough surrounding the green, hitting practice shots out of sand bunkers and putting.
"We're going to have to play good golf this week, but we are very capable," head coach Ryan Donovan said. "This golf course suits us very well. We're playing well, we're loose and we're confident. We'll hopefully be in contention down the stretch this week."
SDSU, which received the No. 21 seed, will be grouped with Texas Tech and Arkansas for the first two rounds. The three teams will open the tournament on the first hole at 6:32 a.m. PT on Friday, while Saturday's second round will commence on the 10th tee at 11:52 a.m. PT. Pairings for the final two rounds of stroke play will be based on team standings.
The Tom Fazio-designed Raptor course at Grayhawk Golf Club will play this week as a par-70, 7,289-yard track for the NCAA Championships. The par-35 front nine is measured 3,573 yards, while the par-35 back nine is 3,716 yards. Both the 502-yard seventh hole and the 520-yard 18th were moved from a par 5 to a par 4 for the championship. The longest hole on the course is the par-5, 650-yard 11th called "Sunset Grill", while the shortest hole is the par-3, 173-yard 16th named "Wee One."
All five San Diego State golfers are playing in their first NCAA Championship. However, all five starters are upperclassmen, including four seniors in Anupansuebsai, Bruce, Jin and Sugimoto, and one junior (Guezzale).
"(The upperclassmen) expected to be (at the NCAA Championships) the whole year," Donovan said. "They've set the bar high and kept each other accountable. They want to win. We're going to play loose and have a good time, but we're not going to change anything we've been doing all year. They want to compete and we're going to see that this week."
According to Weather Underground, it will be 73 degrees at the start of the Aztecs' day and will rise to 94 degrees by the end of their first round. Starting later on Saturday, SDSU will start to a 94-degree dry heat with a high of 99 degrees expected. The wind is forecasted to be light and variable for both days.
This year marks the first time in tournament history that the NCAA Championships have been held in the Phoenix area and just the second time in the state of Arizona (Univ. of Arizona hosted the 1971 event). The Grayhawk Golf Club is also set to host the 2022 and 2023 NCAA Championships.
The Aztecs are making their 30th appearance in the NCAA Championships overall, including seventh since Ryan Donovan took over the head coaching reins at his alma mater in 2004. SDSU also has made the NCAA Championships under Donovan's watch in 2005, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016.
San Diego State has finished in the top 10 on three occasions at the Division I level, with its best performance occurring in 2012 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The Aztecs staged a furious rally on the third and final day of medal competition, vaulting 11 places into a tie for fourth with California at 19-over 871. The Scarlet and Black was then pitted against the Golden Bears in the quarterfinals of match play, but dropped a heart-breaking 3&2 decision.
SDSU's top individual finish in the last 22 years came in 2011 when J.J. Spaun (T3) and Todd Baek (T10) both landed in the top 10 at Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Okla.
The format for the NCAA championship series features 72 holes of stroke play with a single round to be contested on each of the first four days. Following 54 holes of competition, the top 15 teams along with the top nine individuals not on one of those advancing teams will qualify for one additional day of stroke play to determine the top eight teams for match-play competition.
The individual national champion will be crowned at the conclusion of stroke play on Monday, May 31. The top eight teams after 72 holes of play will then be placed into a match-play bracket with the No. 1 seed facing the No. 8 seed, the No. 2 seed battling the No. 7 seed, the No. 3 seed playing the No. 6 seed and the No. 4 seed squaring off against the No. 5 seed. Ties for the top 15 and top eight teams, as well as the top nine individuals, will be broken by a sudden-death playoff or, if necessary, by an alternate tiebreaking procedure.
SDSU Completes Practice Round at NCAA Championships
