SAN DIEGO -- Fresh off its third consecutive Wyoming Cowboy Classic title, the San Diego State men's golf team heads to the Western Intercollegiate Monday on the historic par-70, 6,514-yard Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, California. The tournament will feature 18 holes apiece on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Aztecs are one of 14 teams competing at the Western Intercollegiate, including programs - No. 8 Stanford, No. 9 Pepperdine, No. 17 Arizona, No. 22 Oregon, No. 23 Colorado State, No. 27 SDSU and No. 32 Washington - in the top 40 of the latest GolfStat rankings (as of April 4). Also in the field is No. 43 Brigham Young, No. 50 California, Hawai'i, host San Jose State, UC Irvine, UNLV and USC.
The Western Intercollegiate will air live on the GOLF Channel from 4-7 p.m. PT on Monday and Tuesday, and from 1-4 p.m. PT Wednesday.
San Diego State is coming off a one-stroke victory at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, April 3-4 on the par-72, 7,334-yard Whirlwind Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Aztecs fired a final round-low 7-under 281 to edge Kansas (-6) by a stroke, while Missouri (-1), Long Beach State (+2) and host Wyoming (+2) rounded out the top five. It was the second team title of the season for SDSU (also William H. Tucker Intercollegiate Sept. 23-24, 2022) and third straight Cowboy Classic victory overall.
The Western Intercollegiate is a six-count-five event, with head coach Ryan Donovan going with the lineup of sophomore Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS), sophomore Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands), senior Youssef Guezzale (San Diego/La Jolla HS), freshman Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif./Pacific Ridge HS), freshman Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand) and junior Skyler Ngo (Las Vegas/Bishop Gorman HS).
For the season, Lague leads the team with a 70.26 stroke average, followed by Hastings (71.07), Oyama (72.15), Chokprajakchat (72.62) and freshman Tyler Kowack (San Diego/Canyon Crest Academy) (72.67).
Entering its 76th year, the Western Intercollegiate presented by Topgolf and Titleist was christened in 1947 and is the oldest running men's college golf tournament west of the Mississippi River. The individual medalist at the Western receives the coveted Blue Jacket, honoring legendary Pasatiempo Golf Club course designer Alister MacKenzie, who also designed Augusta National Golf Club.
SDSU will be making its 12th consecutive appearance, but just its 13th since 2001. San Diego State finished fourth out of 14 teams at last year's tournament at 42-over 1,092.
Three of the six Aztec starters played in last year's Western Intercollegiate, led by Hastings, who tied for fifth at 3-over 213. Lague tied for 17th at +8 and Guezzale tied for 24th at +10.
Lars Johansson is the most recent San Diego State individual champion at the event, capturing medalist honors in 2001 after defeating Jason Higton of Pacific on the first hole of a sudden death playoff. In addition, Kris Moe emerged victorious at the Western in 1983, while Ron O'Connor accomplished the feat in 1960, guiding the Aztecs to their only team title in the history of the invitational.
Other notable winners of the Western Intercollegiate include Ken Venturi (1951, 1953), Johnny Miller (1968), Howard Twitty (1972), Peter Jacobsen (1974), Mark O'Meara (1978), Bobby Clampett (1980), Duffy Waldorf (1985), Arron Oberholser (1996), Joel Kribel (1997, 1999), Jason Allred (2000) and Scottie Scheffler (2015).
In all, players who have competed in the Western Intercollegiate account for more than 550 PGA TOUR victories and 50 major championships, including past participants Tiger Woods, Jon Rahm, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Steve Stricker and Roger Maltbie, not to mention former Aztec All-American Xander Schauffele. Additionally, 95 Western Intercollegiate alumni have PGA Tour victories, including former SDSU All-American J.J. Spaun.
Texas (+25) took home the team title in 2022, while Pepperdine's Dylan Menante captured medalist honors at -1.
The Western Intercollegiate is SDSU's final event before the Mountain West Championship, set for April 28-30 at Omni Tucson National Golf Club in Tucson, Arizona.