SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The 25th-ranked San Diego State men's golf team is tied for eighth place after the first round of the NCAA Championships on Friday. Setting out in the morning wave, the Aztecs fired a 6-over 286 on the unforgiving par-70, 7,289-yard Grayhawk Golf Club in the Phoenix area.
SDSU's 286 was tied for the third-lowest round in the morning wave. San Diego State, which entered the championships as the No. 21 seed out of 30 teams, are tied with No. 32 Oregon State at +6. No. 22 Texas Tech, which played with the Aztecs and No. 23 Arkansas in the first round, lead the tournament at 4-under 276, while No. 31 Sam Houston State (-2) and No. 9 Pepperdine (-1) are the only other teams under par. Also ahead of SDSU is No. 1 Oklahoma (E), No. 3 Oklahoma State (E), No. 2 Florida State (+1) and No. 10 Arizona State (+4), the latter which is the tournament host. Five teams - No. 4 Clemson, No. 7 Wake Forest, No. 8 Illinois, No. 18 SMU and Arkansas - are a shot back of San Diego State and Oregon State at +7.
The Aztecs overcame a sluggish start with just one team birdie over the front nine and were at one point 15th of 15 competing teams at 8-over par. SDSU, however, rallied in the back nine, posting a combined 10 birdies to move up 12 spots in the morning wave.
"(We had) a slow start," head coach Ryan Donovan said. "Two guys were kind of out of it early so that makes it challenging. Our goal every tournament is to have all five guys in it throughout the rounds so things don't change so drastically. The guys fought back hard. There's no quit in these guys. We have a lot of golf ahead of us."
The top 15 teams after Sunday's third round and top nine individuals not on one of those advancing teams will qualify for one additional day of stroke play Monday to determine the individual national champion and the top eight teams for match-play competition.
Individually, Puwit Anupansuebsai leads the way once again for San Diego State after carding a 2-under 68, which is tied for fifth in the 156-player field. The 68 is tied for the third-lowest round at a NCAA Championship in program history, only trailing 67s by Jack Spradling in 1971 and Nahum Mendoza III in 2016.
Anupansuebsai, who has back-to-back victories at the Mountain West Championship and NCAA Kingston Springs Regional, started out with nine straight pars before consecutive birdies on the par-4, 390-yard 10th and the par-5, 650-yard 11th. A bogey on the par-4, 468-yard 12th was followed with a par on the par-3, 230-yard 13th and back-to-back birdies on par 4s (430-yard 14th and 450-yard 15th). Anupansuebsai then bogeyed the par-3, 173-yard 16th before ending with pars on the sneaky-tough par-4, 405-yard 17th and the brutal par-4, 520-yard 18th.
"(Puwit) was solid all day," Donovan said. "He made nine straight pars and then had a couple of birdies. He had one three-putt, which was kind of unexpected, and maybe a wrong club on a par 3, but overall he was pretty solid. He did what he needed to do in the first round. Nobody is going to go extremely low out here so he just needs to stay consistent and he'll be right in the mix down the stretch."
"We knew the beginning of the day was going to be a grind out here," Anupansuebsai said. "You're going to hit some bad shots. You just have to stay patient. We knew we were going to make some birdies coming in. You just need to stay calm and not force it."
Steve Sugimoto and Callum Bruce, meanwhile, each shot even-par 70s and are tied for 27th. Sugimoto recorded four birdies on the day, including the par-4, 395-yard second hole, No. 11, No. 14 and No. 16, which offset four bogeys.
Bruce started with six straight pars but bogeyed both the par-4, 502-yard seventh and the par-4, 468-yard ninth to post a 2-over 35 on the front nine. The Banff, Scotland, native bounced back with a 2-under 33 on the back nine with birdies on the 10th and the tough 18th, seven pars and no bogeys. Bruce was one of only four players to birdie the 18th, which was changed from a par-5 to a par-4 for this tournament and played as the toughest hole today.
Zihao Jin (T141st) and Youssef Guezzale (T149th) also competed for the Aztecs had shot 78 and 79, respectively. Jin was unable to record a birdie on the day, while posting four bogeys and two double bogeys. Guezzale had three double bogeys on the front nine before posting eight consecutive pars and a birdie on No. 14. Following a par on the 15th, Guezzale unfortunately finished his round bogey, bogey and double bogey.
SDSU will play its second round Saturday once again with Arkansas and Texas Tech, beginning at 11:52 a.m. PT on the 10th hole.
NCAA Championships
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Day One Results
Grayhawk Golf Club
Par 70, 7,289 yards
Team Standings (Top 10 of 30 teams)
1. No. 22 Texas Tech…276 (-4)
2. No. 31 Sam Houston State…278 (-2)
3. No. 9 Pepperdine…277 (-1)
T4. No. 1 Oklahoma…278 (E)
T4. No. 3 Oklahoma State…278 (E)
6. No. 2 Florida State…281 (+1)
7. No. 10 Arizona State…284 (+4)
T8. No. 25 San Diego State…286 (+6)
T8. No. 32 Oregon State…286 (+6)
T10. No. 4 Clemson…287 (+7)
T10. No. 7 Wake Forest…287 (+7)
T10. No. 8 Illinois…287 (+7)
T10. No. 18 SMU…287 (+7)
T10. No. 23 Arkansas…287 (+7)
Individual Leaders (Top 10 of 156 players + SDSU)
1. Cole Bradley^ (Purdue)…66 (-4)
T2. William Holcomb (Sam Houston State)…67 (-3)
T2. Bo Jin (Oklahoma State)…67 (-3)
T2. Ting-Wei Hsieh (Sam Houston State)…67 (-3)
T5. Puwit Anupansuebsai…68 (-2)
T5. Ricky Castillo (Florida)…68 (-2)
T5. Ludvig Aberg (Texas Tech)…68 (-2)
T5. Turk Pettit (Clemson)…68 (-2)
T5. John Pak (Florida State)…68 (-2)
T5. William Mouw (Pepperdine)…68 (-2)
T5. Jonathan Brightwell (Oklahoma)…68 (-2)
T5. Travis Vick (Texas)…68 (-2)
T5. Mason Andersen (Arizona State)…68 (-2)
T5. Trevor Johnson (Louisville)…68 (-2)
T5. Michael Sakane^ (Jacksonville)…68 (-2)
T5. Tristan Mandur^ (Utah)…68 (-2)
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T27. Callum Bruce…70 (E)
T27. Steve Sugimoto…70 (E)
T141. Zihao Jin…78 (+8)
T149. Youssef Guezzale…79 (+9)
^ competing as an individual
SDSU Tied for Eighth after First Round of NCAA Champs
