The San Diego State men’s golf team won its first tournament ofthe season Tuesday at the Pacific Invitational in Stockton. Thevictory pushed the club into the Top-25 for the first time since theprogram was brought back in 1992.
The Aztecs, currently ranked No. 21, posted a three-round total of845 (-19), including a clutch three-under team performance in thefinal round of the tournament to knock off runner-upAlabama-Birmingham (-14).
“It was a huge win for this team and this program,” said headcoach Dale Walker. “We needed to get a tournament under our belt, andnow that we did, we should continue to win golf tournaments.”
Scott Piercy led the Aztecs charge, shooting a three-round totalof 210 (-6), taking third in the individual competition. The seniorcaught some heat earlier in the season from Walker for hisinconsistent play at the Tucker Invitational, where he shot 13 overand almost lost his starting position.
“Piercy really stepped up and played solid,” Walker said. “Thewhole team rebounded well from the Tucker.”
Walker felt like Piercy could have won the tournament if his gamewould have been running on all cylinders.
“Scott seems to be back on track.” Walker said. “But if hewould’ve putted better on the last nine holes, he easily could havewon this golf tournament. If he can get his putter to improve, hewill definitely win some tournaments this season.”
All five Aztecs who competed finished among the top 25individually. Sophomore Lars Johansson tied for seventh (-2), juniorJohn Lieber (-1) was 10th overall, junior John Lepak (even) tied for14th and junior Brian Miller (+3) finished 24th.
UC Berkeley’s J.R. Ruda won the event at nine-under and DougMcClure (-8) from Idaho finished second.
SDSU’s 19-under team performance was the club’s best score sinceits reinstatement in ’92 and was the first road victory in that timespan as well.
“This program has been brought back from scratch, and to be wherewe are now is really remarkable,” Walker said.
The Aztecs next action is at the Strata Invitational Oct. 9-10 inMalibu, hosted by Pepperdine. The tournament will boast top programslike the University of New Mexico.
“This will be a strong test for us, but I fully anticipate usgoing up there with the only intention of winning the golftournament,” Walker said.
