TUCSON, Ariz. — No. 7 San Diego State captured its first Mountain West Men's Golf title today at the Tucson National Golf Course, (Par 71, 7,144 yards), in Tucson, Ariz. The Aztecs, who fired a 4-over 288 on Saturday, carded a 54-hole total of 5-under 847 to secure the crown by two strokes over No. 40 TCU. SDSU, who had placed second on five other occasions at the Mountain West championship, held off a late charge by the Horned Frogs in the third round and claimed its sixth team title of the season.
TCU shot an even-par 284 in the final round and finished the tournament with a 3-under 849. No 36 UNLV came in third place with a three-day score of 2-over 854, followed by Colorado State in fourth (856, +4), New Mexico in fifth (858, +6), BYU sixth (860, +8), Utah seventh (874, +22), Air Force eighth (875, +23) and Wyoming in ninth (885, +33).
Individually, Ernst captured the title with a birdie on playoff-hole No. 3. Colorado State senior Ryan Peterson (Eagan, Minn.), New Mexico junior Travis Ross (Crookston, Minn.) and UNLV junior Derek Ernst (Clovis, Calif.) tied for medalist honors with identical 54-hole scores of 6-under 207.
Ernst took a 1-stroke lead after sinking a birdie on the 16th hole, but bogeyed 18 to set up the three-way playoff. All three pared the first playoff hole, forcing the threesome to continue.
Peterson chipped in from 17-feet out on the second playoff hole to save par, while Ross and Ernst missed birdie putts to force a third playoff hole. After strong drives by all three players downwind on the third hole, Ernst hit a pitching wedge from 130 yards out and landed the ball 18 inches from the cup. After Peterson and Ross missed long birdie putts, Ernst sunk a short birdie putt to win the crown.
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Mountain West Conf. Champ. , May 5 - May 7, 2011 Round 3 Scores
OMNI Tucson National - Par 71, 7144 yards Fin. Team
Scores . . . Total . . . Par
1 San Diego State............... 278 281 288 847 -5
2 TCU........................... 283 282 284 849 -3
3 UNLV.......................... 287 273 294 854 +2
4 Colorado State................ 286 287 283 856 +4
5 New Mexico.................... 291 284 283 858 +6
6 Brigham Young................. 283 285 292 860 +8
7 Utah.......................... 297 291 286 874 +22
8 Air Force..................... 289 294 292 875 +23
9 Wyoming....................... 286 294 305 885 +33
Mountain West Conf. Champ. , May 5 - May 7, 2011 Round 3 Scores
OMNI Tucson National - Par 71, 7144 yards
* Player is participating as an individual
Fin. Players Team
Scores Total Par
T1 Travis Ross.................... New Mexico....................
71 67 69 207 -6
T1 Ryan Peterson.................. Colorado State................
67 70 70 207 -6
T1 Derek Ernst.................... UNLV..........................
71 64 72 207 -6
4 Alex Kang...................... San Diego State...............
68 72 69 209 -4
T5 Tom Hoge....................... TCU...........................
71 71 68 210 -3
T5 Johan de Beer.................. TCU...........................
70 69 71 210 -3
T7 Gabe Maier..................... Wyoming.......................
65 70 77 212 -1
T7 Robert Belz.................... Air Force.....................
69 71 72 212 -1
T7 Mike Sorensen.................. Colorado State................
75 71 66 212 -1
T7 J.J. Spaun..................... San Diego State...............
70 70 72 212 -1
T7 Kevin Penner................... UNLV..........................
70 69 73 212 -1
T7 Johan Carlsson................. San Diego State...............
67 68 77 212 -1
T13 Mike Branca.................... Utah..........................
76 72 66 214 +1
T13 Zac Blair...................... Brigham Young.................
69 72 73 214 +1
T15 Ben Bankhead................... Utah..........................
74 72 69 215 +2
T15 Pontus Gad..................... TCU...........................
71 72 72 215 +2
T17 Clinton Boutelle............... Wyoming.......................
71 71 74 216 +3
T17 John Catlin.................... New Mexico....................
73 72 71 216 +3
T17 Daniel Jennevret............... TCU...........................
73 70 73 216 +3
T17 Blake Biddle................... UNLV..........................
73 71 72 216 +3
T17 Colin Featherstone............. San Diego State...............
73 72 71 216 +3
T22 Cole Ogden..................... Brigham Young.................
77 69 71 217 +4
T22 Esteban Calisto................ Brigham Young.................
72 72 73 217 +4
T24 Derek Adams.................... Utah..........................
73 69 76 218 +5
T24 Cameron Edens.................. Brigham Young.................
71 72 75 218 +5
T26 Ryan Gay....................... New Mexico....................
74 74 71 219 +6
T26 Eli Cole....................... TCU...........................
71 72 76 219 +6
T26 Nicholas Maruri................ UNLV..........................
73 69 77 219 +6
T29 Sam Chavez..................... New Mexico....................
73 75 72 220 +7
T29 Zahkai Brown................... Colorado State................
76 71 73 220 +7
T31 Kyle Bailey.................... Air Force.....................
73 76 72 221 +8
T31 Tom Berry...................... San Diego State...............
74 71 76 221 +8
T33 Kyle Westmoreland.............. Air Force.....................
75 74 74 223 +10
T33 Kirby Pettitt.................. Colorado State................
72 77 74 223 +10
T33 Tom Carlson.................... New Mexico....................
77 71 75 223 +10
T36 Philip Colwell................. Air Force.....................
72 78 74 224 +11
T36 Kory Harrell................... Colorado State................
72 75 77 224 +11
38 Jeff Kitches................... Utah..........................
74 78 75 227 +14
39 Adam Tebbs..................... Brigham Young.................
71 76 81 228 +15
40 Phil Henzlik................... Wyoming.......................
75 76 78 229 +16
41 Caleb Leestma.................. Air Force.....................
82 73 75 230 +17
42 Michael May.................... Wyoming.......................
75 77 80 232 +19
43 Zach Zaremba................... Wyoming.......................
79 81 76 236 +23
44 Chase Hite..................... Utah..........................
81 82 80 243 +30
45 Arthur Kim..................... UNLV..........................
79 84 87 250 +37