SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team returns to action Monday at Wyoming's Cowboy Classic on the par-72, 7,334-yard Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Ariz. The Cowboy Classic will feature 36 holes on Monday and the final 18-hole round on Tuesday.
The Aztecs are one of 23 teams competing this weekend and at No. 28 (Golfstat) are the highest-ranked team in the field. Also in the mix with SDSU and the host Cowboys are No. 36 Stanford, Air Force, Cal Poly, Cal State Fullerton, Colorado, Grand Canyon, Idaho, Loyola Marymount, Northern Colorado, Oregon, San Diego, Southern Utah, Stanford, TCU, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, UNLV, Utah State, Utah Valley and Weber State.
San Diego State will tee off from the first hole at 7:30 a.m. PT Monday and will play all 36 holes with Wyoming. Tuesday's final round also is set for a 7:30 a.m. PT start time.
The Aztecs are coming off a solid showing at Arizona's National Invitational Tournament where they finished fourth out of 18 teams in a loaded field at 29-under-par 835. Steve Sugimoto led the way by tying for ninth at 10-under 206. Zihao Jin (T-14th, -8), Callum Bruce (T-28th, -3), Puwit Anupansuebsai (T-30th, -2) and Youssef Guezzale (T-61th, +2) also scored for SDSU, while Joey Moore (T-44th, E) competed as an individual.
San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in the lineup of Jin, Anupansuebsai, Sugimoto, Bruce and Guezzale for this week's event.
Jin leads the Aztecs with a 72.33 scoring average through 12 rounds. He also tops the team in rounds in the 60s (3) and is tied for the most under-par rounds (4). Jin has finished in the top 20 in three of his four events.
Anupansuebsai, meanwhile, is third on the team in stroke average (72.83), while ranking second in even-par rounds (3) and tied for second with two rounds in the 60s.
Sugimoto ranks second on the team with a 72.75 scoring average and is tied for the team lead in rounds below par (4). His T9 at Arizona's N.I.T. was his best finish this season.
Bruce is fourth on the squad among the SDSU scorers at 73.17 across six rounds and Guezzale is fifth at 73.58.
SDSU last competed in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic in 2009 when five individuals played in the tournament, not counting in team scores.
UCLA is the defending champion after shooting a 23-under 841 in 2019 as UCLA's Cole Madey and Wyoming's John Murdock shared medalist honors at 13-under 203. UC Davis has won the tournament a record three times, while UCLA is also a multi-time winner. This year is the 18th edition of the tournament.
Following this weekend's Wyoming Cowboy Classic, San Diego State will compete in the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif.