SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team opens the fall portion of the 2022-23 campaign this weekend when it travels to the desert for the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, Sept. 9-11, at Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The 54-hole event will be contested over three days, beginning Friday and Saturday with tee times at 8 a.m. PT. The final round is slated for 7 a.m. PT Sunday and will be based on the scores of the first two rounds on the par-70, 7,118-yard course layout.
The Aztecs will tee off in the competitive 18-team field at 9:40 a.m. PT Friday with Oregon and UCLA. Others in the tournament include Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Clemson, East Tennessee State, Florida State, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, New Mexico, North Carolina State, Tennessee, UNLV, Wake Forest and Washington.
Now in his 20th season at the helm of the Aztecs, head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in the starting lineup of senior Youssef Guezzale (San Diego/La Jolla HS), sophomore Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS), sophomore Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands), freshman Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif./Pacific Ridge HS) and freshman Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand). Sophomore Jack Townsend (San Diego/Charter School of San Diego) and freshman Tyler Kowack (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines HS), meanwhile, will be competing as an individual in the tournament.
SDSU will be one of the youngest, but talented teams on the West Coast, starting a fifth-year senior (Guezzale) with NCAA Championship experience, two sophomores and two freshmen. Three of the five starters for San Diego State - Lague, Hastings and Oyama - competed at the U.S. Amateur last month in Massachusetts with Lague advancing all the way to the quarterfinals.
The Aztecs are coming off another successful season in 2021-22, winning the MW Championship, their second straight Wyoming Cowboy Classic and finishing eighth at the NCAA Norman Regional in Norman, Oklahoma.
Last year, Guezzale ranked third on the team with a 72.61 scoring average across 12 tournaments, including 11 in the starting five. Guezzale led the team with 10 rounds in the 60s and 14 rounds below par, culminating with a third-place finish at the MW Championship at 8-under 208.
Lague played in 22 rounds last year as a freshman at San Diego State, posting a 73.18 scoring average. He was named the MW Men's Golf Freshman of the Week on Jan. 27. Most recently Lague advanced all the way to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Amateur before falling to Derrick Hitcher, 3 and 2.
Hastings and Oyama, meanwhile, also competed in the U.S. Amateur last month but did not get out of stroke play competition. Hastings played in nine tournaments last season with SDSU, ranking fifth on the team with a 73.00 stroke average. Hastings twice was named the Mountain West Men's Golf Freshman of the Week (March 24 and April 14).
Oyama comes to the Aztecs from Pacific Ridge High School in nearby Carlsbad and will be making his collegiate debut.
Like Oyama, Chokprajakchat will be making his collegiate debut this weekend after playing at Anaheim Discovery Christian School in Anaheim, California, the same high school as former Aztec star Puwit Anupansuebsai.
Townsend logged a 73.67 scoring average a year ago as a freshman, competing in six tournaments overall and three in the starting five. Townsend was named the MW Freshman of the Week on March 10.
Kowack will also be making his collegiate debut, having played locally at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego.
This year will be the sixth annual Maui Jim Intercollegiate. The Aztecs are competing in the event for the second time after taking fourth of 14 teams at last year's event at 30-under-par 810. Guezzale was the team's top finisher last year, tying for 12th out of the 90 entrants at 10-under 200. Lague was the team's No. 2 at 6-under 204, while Townsend competed as an individual and finished 89th at 16-over 226. Arizona State and Georgia Tech (2018 and 2021) have won two of the five Maui Jim Intercollegiate events (2017 and 2019), while LSU (2016) also has a team title in Scottsdale.
Following the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, SDSU next competes in the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, Sept. 23-24, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Aztecs Set for Opener at Maui Jim Intercollegiate
