SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team returns to competition at the Colonial Collegiate Invitational, Oct. 4-5 in Fort Worth, Texas. The 54-hole event will be contested over two days with two rounds slated for Monday and the final 18 holes on Tuesday on the par-70, 7,204-yard Colonial Country Club layout.
The Aztecs are one of 15 teams in the loaded field which includes 12 programs that made the 2021 NCAA Championship last spring and each of the last five NCAA champions. Additionally, 14 of the 15 schools are ranked among the top 55 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin team ratings (released Oct. 1). Also joining SDSU in the field are No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 5 Oklahoma State, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Clemson, No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 12 Stanford, No. 18 Vanderbilt, No. 19 Georgia, No. 25 Pepperdine, No. 26 Florida, No. 34 Baylor, No. 35 Wake Forest, Oregon, host TCU and USC.
The Colonial Collegiate Invitational also features four of the top seven individuals in the World Amateur Golf Rankings, nine of the top 14 in the PGA TOUR University rankings and seven participants from the 2021 Walker Cup at Seminole Golf Club.
As of Saturday night, pairings for the tournament had yet to be announced.
The Aztecs last competed at the Husky Invitational on Sept. 20-21, where they settled for a tie for ninth at 9-over-par 873 with Washington State, moving up two places from the 36-hole first day. SDSU opened its fall campaign with an impressive fourth-place finish at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate (Sept. 10-12) when it set a program record with a final-round 16-under-par 264 en route to a 30-under 810 in an outstanding field. San Diego State finished one stroke behind Auburn (-31) for third place and four ahead of Louisville (-26), while Georgia Tech (-44) and Clemson (-43) took first and second, respectively.
The Aztecs are receiving 43 votes in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll released Sept. 17, which are the 28th-most points in the poll.
SDSU 19th-year head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in the starting lineup of seniors Puwit Anupansuebsai (Nakhon Phanom, Thailand), Zihao Jin (Beijing/Rancho Bernardo HS), Youssef Guezzale (San Diego/La Jolla HS) and Steve Sugimoto (San Diego/Rancho Bernardo HS), along with freshman Jack Townsend (San Diego/Charter School of San Diego). The four seniors have been regular stalwarts in San Diego State's starting lineup throughout the years, including at last year's NCAA Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, while Townsend will be making his first foray into the starting five.
Jin leads the Aztecs with a 68.33 stroke average in three rounds, while Anupansuebsai (69.67), Sugimoto (70.33) and Guezzale (71.00) round out the top four, competing in both tournaments this season (six rounds total). Townsend, meanwhile, owns a 72.67 scoring average in six individual rounds. Anupansuebsai paces SDSU with four rounds below par, while Guezzale, Jin, Sugimoto and Townsend have three apiece.
Oklahoma captured the Colonial Collegiate Invitational last fall at 5-under 835, the first college golf tournament since the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 season the previous March. Texas came in second at 1-over 841, while Texas Tech (+10), Baylor (+23), TCU (+23) and Kansas (+23) were also the top finishers in a field that consisted only of Big 12 schools.
The Colonial Country Club has hosted an annual PGA Tour event since 1946, the longest running non-major tour event to be held at the same venue. The club was started in 1936 and hosted the 1941 U.S. Open, the 1975 Tournament Players Championship and the 1991 U.S. Women's Open. The course sits along the bank of the Trinity River and is located less than a mile from the campus of TCU.
Following the Colonial Collegiate Invitational, San Diego State will complete is fall season at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at The Alotian Club in Roland, Arkansas, from Oct. 18-20.