Men’s Golf Ties for 25th at NCAA Championships

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The San Diego State finished in a tie for 25th place at the NCAA Championships Sunday afternoon on the demanding par-70, 7,289-yard Grayhawk Golf Club in the Phoenix area.
 
The Aztecs still completed their season with two team victories, seven top-5 finishes and three individual titles.
 
"It's hard to get to a national championship and have a chance to win a national title," head coach Ryan Donovan said. "The whole year has been an awesome experience with a great group of guys. I'm just so proud of them."
 
"It was a great ride," senior Steve Sugimoto said. "When we won the Southwestern (Invitational) on the Golf Channel we knew we had something special. It paid off when we got to the NCAA Championships through (NCAA) Regionals and it was unfortunate we couldn't make the cut."
 
Needing to finish among the top 15 to advance to a fourth round of stroke play on Monday, SDSU shot a 19-over-par 299 in the third round today. The 15 teams that went out in the morning all advanced to Monday pending a morning playoff between Georgia Tech and TCU. San Diego State teed off today at 12:15 p.m. PT in the thick of the windy desert conditions.
 
Third-ranked Oklahoma State leads the way through three rounds at 12-under 828, while No. 1 Oklahoma (+1), No. 10 Arizona State (+2), No. 8 Illinois (+4), No. 2 Florida State (+9), No. 6 North Carolina (+13), No. 7 Wake Forest (+13) and No. 11 Vanderbilt (+13) are currently in position to move on to match play competition on Tuesday. The Aztecs tied for 25th with No. 5 Texas at +46.
 
"Our game plan was to go out there and shoot even-par today," Donovan said. "If we shot even-par we knew that would be enough to be in the top 15 and give us another round tomorrow. It just came down to execution. We had a great game plan but it played tough out here all week. I'm proud of the guys. We fought hard. Nobody quit out there. It was great experience for us. We'll be back here next year. We learned a lot this year with how hard they made it."
 
"We put ourselves in a hole after yesterday, and we knew we had to come out and make some birdies today," Sugimoto said. "It was extremely frustrating that we didn't do that. I wish we could've done more. We knew we had to be patient, execute shot and take pars when we had them. I for one put myself in some trouble, and couldn't really get out of it and it cost me in the end."
 
Senior Puwit Anupansuebsai led SDSU for a fifth straight tournament and finished one shot out of a playoff to determine the final individual qualifier from a non-advancing team. Anupansuebsai shot a 4-over 74 today and 8-over 218 for the tournament. The PING all-West Region selection overcame back-to-back bogeys on the par-4, 395-yard second hole and the par-4, 475-yard third hole with a birdie on the par-5, 562-yard fourth. He parred the next five holes to finish the front nine at 1-over 36 and added another par on the par-4, 396-yard 10th. Anupansubsai bounced back from a bogey on the par-5, 650-yard 11th with a birdie on the par-3, 230-yard 13th when he hit the ball within a foot for a tap-in putt. Bogeys, however, down the stretch on the par-4, 430-yard 14th, par-4, 450-yard 15th and par-4, 520-yard 18th kept him from moving on to Monday.

Sugimoto was just one shot behind Anunpansuebsai at 9-over 219 following a 6-over 76 in today's third round. The 2021 senior all-MW selection birdied the 10th after carding a 2-over 37 on the front nine, but took a bogey on the par-4, 468-yard 12th and a double bogey on the 14th. He got one stroke back on the par-3, 173-yard 16th when he hit his tee shot to within six feet and sank the birdie putt. Sugimoto, however, finished with a bogey on the par-4, 405-yard 17th and a double bogey on the unforgiving 18th to sign for a 76.
 
Junior Youssef Guezzale carded San Diego State's low round of the day with a 1-over 71 after shooting a 79 and 77 in the first two rounds. He finished in a tie for 125th at 17-over 227. Guezzale recorded four birdies on the day, including the second, 10th, 12th and the 14th, which was offset by three bogeys and a double bogey on the par-5, 502-yard seventh.
 
Callum Bruce tied for 139th at 21-over 231 following an 8-over 78 today. The senior had two birdies - No. 4 and No. 11 - but couldn't overcome eight bogeys, including the final three holes, and a double bogey on the tough seventh hole.
 
Senior Zihao Jin finished in 143rd at 22-over 232 and had a 9-over 79 today. Jin birdied the second and the par-3, 205-yard fifth, but also had seven bogeys and an unfortunate quadruple bogey on No. 4.
 
NCAA Championships
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Day Three Results
Grayhawk Golf Club
Par 70, 7,289 yards
 
Team Standings (Top 5 of 30 teams + SDSU)
1. No. 3 Oklahoma State…280-274-274—828 (-12)
2. No. 1 Oklahoma…280-279-282—841 (+1)
3. No. 10 Arizona State…284-278-280—842 (+2)
4. No. 8 Illinois…287-279-278—844 (+4)
5. No. 2 Florida State…281-294-274—849 (+9)
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T25. San Diego State…286-301-299—886 (+46)
 
Individual Leaders (Top 5 of 156 players + SDSU)
1. Bo Jin (Oklahoma State)…67-65-69—201 (-9)
2. Turk Pettit (Clemson)…68-67-68—203 (-7)  
T3. Parker Gillam (Wake Forest)…72-69-64—205 (-5)
T3. Quade Cummins (Oklahoma)…69-68-68—205 (-5)  
T5. Michael Feagles (Illinois)…72-67-67—206 (-4)
T5. Jonathan Brightwell (Oklahoma)…68-69-69—206 (-4)
T5. Ryggs Johnston (Arizona State)…72-63-71—206 (-4)
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T56. Puwit Anupansuebsai (San Diego State)…68-76-74—218 (+8)
T67. Steve Sugimoto (San Diego State)…70-73-76—219 (+9)
T125. Youssef Guezzale (San Diego State)…79-77-71—227 (+17)
T139. Callum Bruce (San Diego State)…70-83-78—231 (+21)
143. Zihao Jin (San Diego State)…78-75-79—232 (+22)