Golf championships are usually won on the last day of play.Unfortunately, they are often lost in the first round.Despite a strong second and final day at the PING Arizona Intercollegiate on Tuesday in Tucson, Ariz., the San Diego State men’s golf team couldn’t overcome a rough opening round, finishing sixth with a 4-over 856.”We played solid, a little bit under where we want to be, but we played hard down the stretch,” head coach Ryan Donovan said. “We were just too far behind to gain any real ground.”SDSU started off the event with a 6-over 290 on Monday, 18 shots behind first-round leader and eventual champion, Tennessee. The Aztecs improved to a 2-over 286 in the second round on Monday and 4-under 280 in the final round. The Vols finished at 20-under 832.Senior Aaron Goldberg led the Aztecs, tying for second with an 8-under 198. He began the third round only four strokes behind the leader, and eventual individual winner UCLA’s Kevin Chappell. Although Goldberg gave a solid performance in the final round, posting a 4-under 67, Chappell was simply better, shooting a 7-under 64.”Aaron is our senior leader and team captain and he had a great tournament,” Donovan said. “He did all he could do, he was clutch throughout the whole week and he nailed his shots. And if he can keep this up and be this consistent, we’ll be able to move up and get the team where we want it.”Freshman Matt Hoffenberg also performed well, carding a career-best 5-under 208, good enough to tie for seventh. Hoffenberg played his best down the stretch, recording a 4-under 67 in the final round, while notching three birdies in the last four holes.”Matt is our freshman standout,” Donovan said. “He’s needed some time to adjust, figure out where the library is, where to park, but today on the golf course he looked more comfortable. He looked more settled in, and he played as good as we know he can. Hopefully he can keep it up.”And while SDSU didn’t win, the team knows exactly what it needs to do to improve.”We’re going to go back to working from 100 yards and in, make sure we really improve a lot around the greens,” Donovan said.