University of Arizona
NCAA Regional
San Diego State Wins NCAA Arizona Regional
05/21/2011 | Men's Golf
May 21, 2011
TUCSON, Ariz. - San Diego State led wire to wire in winning the 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Arizona Regional Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.
For the second straight day, each of the Aztecs' countable scores were under par as SDSU rolled to a seven-stroke victory. SDSU was seven-under as a team at the turn and never looked back.
J.J. Spaun, who carded back-to-back 69s to close the event, and Todd Baek, who posted a 68, led the squad over the final 18 holes as SDSU claimed its seventh team title of the season and first-ever NCAA regional championship. The Aztecs posted a final-round 277 (-7) and finished the 54-hole event with a 19-under 833 team total.
"We're feeling very good," said Ryan Donovan, SDSU head coach. "We came in to win and did just that. Moving to the next round is great. We had a really good start. (We) were seven under after the first nine holes."
Texas A&M (840), California (843) and Pepperdine (844) each made a strong final-round push to earn a top-five finish and advance to the 114th NCAA Championships, May 31-June 5, at Karsten Creek Golf Course in Stillwater, Okla.
The real drama of the day was in the battle for the fifth and final qualifying spot. Arizona's Tarquin MacManus registered birdies on holes 15, 16 and 17, and sophomore Juan Pablo Hernandez added one of his own on 18 to help the host Wildcats (844/-8) turn a two-shot deficit into a one-shot advantage over sixth-place Washington (845/-7).
"It's good to get it done, scratch our way in," said MacManus. "We worked hard, fought back in the spring, and to make this run to nationals is great for us."
Host Arizona carded its low tournament total of the season at the NCAA regional, and it marked the first time this season that the Wildcats were under par in all three rounds of a tournament.
Since the NCAA regional format was adopted in 1989, Arizona has advanced to the NCAA Championships under head coach Rick LaRose every time the team has qualified for the postseason and he has been present - a spotless 21 for 21 - in those 23 seasons. The only times UA has failed to advance was in 2008 when the Cats did not qualify for the postseason and in 2010 when LaRose was heading the UA women's team at the NCAA Championships.
UC Davis' Matt Hansen came from behind to claim individual medalist honors by two shots after firing a three-under 68 Saturday and finishing with a nine-under 204 tally. The win was the first of his career and earned him a spot at the 2011 NCAA Championships as well.
"It was great to have this as my first win," said Hansen. "I'm in a good place (mentally) to head to nationals. It's great to be playing well."
MacManus' heroics led the way for Arizona as he tied for seventh place individually at four-under 209. It was his fifth top-10 finish of the season and the third time MacManus has posted at top-10 effort at the NCAA regional in four career appearances.
MacManus was joined in the top 20 by Hernandez, who tied for 14th place at two-under 211. It was Hernandez's low tournament total of the season and was his third top-20 finish in 2010-11.
Jonathan Khan tied for 25th place at one-over 214, while Erik Oja tied for 32nd place at two-over 215. Stefan Cox tied for 48th place at six-over 219, to round out the UA participants.
The 54-hole 2011 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Arizona Regional was contested at Omni Tucson National Golf Resort, a par-71, 7,199-yard layout.
Team Standings
1. San Diego State, 278-278-277=833 (-19)
2. Texas A&M, 281-282-277=840 (-12)
3. California, 286-279-278=843 (-9)
4. Pepperdine, 284-280-280=844 (-8)
ARIZONA, 281-280-283=844 (-8)
6. Washington, 279-286-280=845 (-7)
7. Oregon State, 284-285-280=849 (-3)
8. UC Davis, 287-287-279=853 (+1)
9. Texas Tech, 283-284-291=858 (+6)
10. Liberty, 280-292-288=860 (+8)
11. Purdue, 290-301-282=873 (+21)
12. Texas-Arlington, 294-288-294=876 (+24)
13. Army, 302-290-290=882 (+30)
14. Loyola, Md.; 310-298-295=903 (+51)
Top-Five Individuals
1. Matt Hansen, UC Davis; 64-72-68=204 (-9)
2. Alex Moore, Oregon State; 66-69-71=206 (-7)
3. Cameron Peck, Texas A&M; 70-67-70=207 (-6)
4. Ben An, California; 73-69-66=208 (-5)
Nils Floren, Texas Tech; 67-71-70=208 (-5)
Alex Kang, San Diego State; 68-70-70=208 (-5)
Arizona Finishers
T7. Tarquin MacManus, 67-71-71=209 (-4)
T14. Juan Pablo Hernandez, 71-69-71=211 (-2)
T25. Jonathan Khan, 71-68-75=214 (+1)
T32. Erik Oja, 72-73-70=215 (+2)
T48. Stefan Cox, 76-72-71=219 (+6)
