SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team looks to defend its title at the Southwestern Invitational presented by Topgolf at North Ranch Country Club, Jan. 24-26, in Westlake Village, California.
The Aztecs will defend against a stout field, which includes defending NCAA champion, second-ranked and tournament host Pepperdine, along with No. 3 Arizona State, No. 7 Texas, No. 10 Wake Forest, No. 16 Georgia, No. 20 Washington, No. 38 SMU, UCLA, San José State, USC and UNLV (all rankings are Golfweek/Sagarin). The event will feature 18-hole rounds on three consecutive days at the par-72, 6,992-yard Lakes and Oaks courses. The invitational will be televised on the Golf Channel from 1:30-4:30 p.m. PT each day.
SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in the lineup of Puwit Anupansuebsai (Nakhon Phanom, Thailand), Zihao Jin (Beijing, China), Steve Sugimoto (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo HS), Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) and Jackson Moss (San Diego/Point Loma HS).
San Diego State last competed Oct. 18-20, 2021, at the Jackson T. Stephens Cup at The Alotian Golf Club in Roland, Arkansas, where it defeated Alabama, 3-2, in match play to secure fifth place. The Aztecs received match-play victories from Jack Townsend (San Diego/Charter School of San Diego), Youssef Guezzale (San Diego/La Jolla HS) and Lague.
Jin was the team's top performer in the fall, posting a 70.17 stroke average across six rounds. Anupansuebsai was right behind Jin at 70.56 in the fall, while Sugimoto (72.17), Guezzale (72.25) and Lague (72.56) rounded out the top 5. Moss, meanwhile, tied for 40th in his lone event at the Husky Individual on Sept. 20-21 at 17-over 233.
Thanks to a gutsy final day that saw SDSU post the best score by seven strokes, San Diego State rallied for the 2021 Southwestern Invitational team title, finishing the tournament at 10-over-par 874 to beat Arizona State (+13) by three shots. It was the Aztecs' third Southwestern Invitational title, which only trails Arizona State (8), USC (7), Stanford (5) and UCLA (5).
Trailing by seven to ASU and in a tie for third after two rounds, SDSU fired a final-round 5-over 293 in windy and chilly conditions to blow by the Sun Devils and their 15-over 303.
Guezzale was San Diego State's top individual finisher, tying for third at even-par 216, Joey Moore (Billings, Mont.), meanwhile, tied for ninth at 2-over 218 following, Jin tied for 11th (+4), Anupansuebsai tied for 20th (+8) and Sugimoto tied for 26th (+10).
The Southwestern Invitational is the merger of two previously existing tournaments: the Southwestern Intercollegiate, launched by USC in 1978, and the Jones Invitational, hosted by Pepperdine in 2014 and 2015.
Following the Southwestern Invitational, the Aztecs will compete in The Prestige presented by Charles Schwab at PGA West, Feb. 21-23, in La Quinta, California.