SAN DIEGO -- The 20th-ranked San Diego State men's golf team kicks off the spring campaign of the 2022-23 season at the Southwestern Invitational presented by ZipRecruiter at North Ranch Country Club, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, in Westlake Village, California.
The Aztecs, who are ranked 20th in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll, while the computer rankings have them 19th (GolfStat) and 20th (Golfweek/Sagarin), will once again face a stout field in the 12-team tournament. Others in the tournament include defending NCAA champion Texas, 2022 NCAA runner-up Arizona State and the 2021 NCAA champion and tournament host Pepperdine. Eight of the 12 teams are ranked in the top 35 of the latest GolfStat computer rankings, including No. 4 Arizona State, No. 14 Pepperdine, No. 19 SDSU, No. 20 Texas, No. 26 Oregon, No. 29 Washington, No. 31 Georgia and No. 34 Wake Forest. USC, San José State, UNLV and UCLA are also in the field.
The event will feature 18-hole rounds on three consecutive days at the par-72, 7,017-yard Lakes and Oaks courses. The invitational will be televised on the Golf Channel from 1:30-4:30 p.m. PT each day.
San Diego State hasn't competed in over three months, but is coming off one of its most successful fall campaigns in recent memory. The Aztecs won the 19-team William H. Tucker Intercollegiate (Sept. 23-24), finished second at the 12-team Wolf Pack Intercollegiate (Oct. 10-11) and took eighth of 18 in a loaded Maui Jim Intercollegiate (Sept. 9-11).
Sophomore Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) led SDSU with a 69.00 stroke average in fall play and is ranked 20th in the latest GolfStat individual ratings (Nov. 14). Senior Youssef Guezzale (San Diego/La Jolla HS) (70.22), freshman Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif./Pacific Ridge HS) (70.67), sophomore Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) (70.78) and freshman Tyler Kowack (San Diego/Canyon Crest Academy) (71.00) also shot under par this fall for San Diego State.
For the spring opener, Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in the lineup of Lague, Hastings, Oyama, freshman Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand) and Guezzale.
San Diego State will tee off from the first hole beginning at 9:10 a.m. PT along with UCLA, UNLV and San José State.
SDSU finished sixth of 12 teams at last year's invitational at 7-over-par 871. Lague tied for 23rd out of 64 golfers at 2-over 218, while current junior Jackson Moss (San Diego/Point Loma HS) tied for 31st at 6-over 222. The other three competitors for San Diego State at last year's event have graduated.
In 2021, however, the Aztecs rallied for the Southwestern Invitational team title after a gutsy final day that saw SDSU post the best score by seven strokes. San Diego State finished at 10-over-par 874 to beat Arizona State (+13) by three shots. Trailing by seven to ASU and in a tie for third after two rounds, the Aztecs 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 SDSU's top individual finisher in the 2021 edition, tying for third at even-par 216.
It was San Diego State's third Southwestern Invitational title (also 2011 and 2012), which now only trails Arizona State (9), USC (7), Stanford (5) and UCLA (5).
Past individual winners of the Southwestern Invitational include notable golfers Corey Pavin (1978 and 1981), Billy Mayfair (1987), Tiger Woods (1996), Paul Casey (1998), Anthony Kim (2006), Patrick Cantlay (2011), Maverick McNealy (2014), Sahith Theegala (2017 and 2020), Justin Suh (2019) and David Puig (2021-22). The lone medalist from the Aztecs was Matt Hoffenberg in 2012 at 2-over 212.
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, SDSU will compete in the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the Ocean Course Hokuala, Feb. 16-18, in Lihue, Hawaii.
No. 20 Aztecs Set for Southwestern Invitational
