SAN DIEGO – After a near two-week hiatus, the San Diego State men's golf team continues its spring schedule early next week when it participates in the 12th annual Lamkin San Diego Classic, March 11-12, in Chula Vista, Calif. The two-day, 54-hole tournament, co-hosted by the Aztecs and the University of San Diego, will be contested at the par-72, 7,033-yard San Diego Country Club.
The first two rounds are slated to begin on Monday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. PDT, while the final 18 holes are scheduled for a Tuesday completion with tee times on holes 1 and 10 as early as 8 a.m. Admission is free to the public, and a live scoring link will be available courtesy of Golfstat on GoAztecs.com.
In addition to No. 63 San Diego State, the highly competitive field features nine other teams ranked among the Golfstat top 75, including No. 5 Arizona State, No. 8 Texas, No. 34 North Carolina, No. 46 Arizona, No. 48 Ole Miss, No. 49 Saint Mary's, No. 50 Colorado State, No. 67 New Mexico and No. 75 Colorado, while Air Force, Louisiana, Nebraska, San Diego and Washington round out the list of competing schools.
The Aztecs will have their entire 10-player roster participating in next week's tournament, featuring the starting lineup of Joey Moore, Puwit Anupansuebsai, Leo Oyo, Zihao Jin and Youssef Guezzale. SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan will also have five individuals competing in the South Bay, with Steve Sugimoto, joining Christian Banke, Newport Laparojkit, Otto Vanhatalo and Ambrose Abbracciamento.
The Scarlet and Black is coming off an eighth-place performance at the Southwestern Invitational two weeks ago in the Los Angeles area, where it shot a combined 17-over 881 in a tournament that was suspended by darkness on the first day of competition. Moore was SDSU's No. 1 golfer, tying for 13th place at 1-over 217, while Anupansuebsai was the only other Aztec to land in the top 30, finishing in three-way tie for 29th at 6-over 222.
The Lamkin San Diego Classic is celebrating its 12th anniversary while marking its ninth consecutive year as a two-day, 54-hole competition. The tournament, formerly known as the San Diego Intercollegiate, was launched in 2008 primarily as an opportunity for local schools to compete against one another. The event has now expanded from local competition to host teams from all across the nation.
This is the 10th time overall and ninth year in a row that the Lamkin San Diego Classic will be held at San Diego Country Club. The inaugural meet took place at the Chula Vista course and moved to the La Jolla Country Club in 2009, followed by a one-year stint at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., in 2010. Before becoming a two-day tournament in 2011, the event was a one-day, 36-hole challenge.
Last season, Oklahoma State captured the team title in a landslide after posting a tournament-record 44-under-par 820 to easily outdistance runner-up Texas Tech (-12) and third-place Arizona (-4).
Similarly, Texas Tech's Fredrik Nilehn established a 54-hole individual standard as well, carding a 15-under 201 to claim medalist honors over the Cowboy trio of Viktor Hovland (-13), Matthew Wolff (-12) and Zach Bauchou (-10).
San Diego State finished sixth at last season's event with a 2-over 866, dropping four places in the standings after shooting a collective 8-over 296 during the final round. Anupansuebsai is the Aztecs' is the top returner from that tournament, where he tied for 32nd with a 3-over 219, while Sugimoto finished two strokes behind in a tie for 44th at 5-over 221.
In addition, Vanhatalo (T-62nd, +8), Jin (T-77th, +13) and Banke (T-85th, +14) competed as individuals.
Buoyed by medalist Ben Wolcott, who fired a 9-under-par 207, Ole Miss emerged victorious at the 2017 installment of the Lamkin San Diego Classic with a combined 16-under 848, while North Carolina, Middle Tennessee State and Texas were distant runners-up after each compiled a 2-under 862.
In addition, SDSU tied New Mexico for fifth place that season at even-par 864, with former Aztec Blake Abercrombie finishing in a three-way tie for second on the individually at 6-under 210, alongside the Texas duo of Scottie Scheffler and Gavin Hall.
In 2016, San Diego State finished in third at 4-over 220, while Texas (-12) captured the team championship after topping second-place New Mexico (-3) by nine shots, highlighted by Beau Hossler's medal-winning effort of 8-under 208.
The Aztecs landed in the sixth spot at San Diego Country Club in 2015 after posting an 8-over 872, while former SDSU All-American Xander Schauffele tied for 10th on the individual leaderboard with an even-par 216. Schauffele took home the top prize as a junior in 2014 after carding an 11-under 205, lifting the Scarlet and Black to a second-place standing.
The previous year in 2013, San Diego State earned its only team championship in the history of the event, while USD captured a pair of crowns in 2008 and 2010. In addition, Point Loma Nazarene emerged victorious in 2009, while SMU grabbed the top spot in 2011, followed by Washington in 2012 and USC in 2014.
Following the Lamkin San Diego Classic, the Aztecs will head to the desert to compete in the University of Arizona's National Invitational Tournament at OMNI Tucson National Golf Club. SDSU will be afforded the opportunity to preview the course in preparation for the Mountain West Championship to be conducted at the site in late April.