COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Coming off a record-setting victory at the Mountain West Championship last month, San Diego State's Ryan Donovan was named the MW Coach of the Year, while MW Championship medalist Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif./Pacific Ridge HS) was selected as the MW Freshman of the Year. Additionally, sophomores Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) and Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) each were named to the 10-man all-conference team.
The conference awards and all-conference team are voted on by the league's 11 head coaches.
Donovan led the Aztecs to their second straight MW Championship and fifth overall (all under Donovan), shattering the tournament record with a 60-under-par 804 at the par-72, 7,194-yard OMNI Tucson National in Tucson, Arizona. SDSU fired a 28-under 260 in Sunday's final round to finish at 60-under overall, breaking New Mexico's previous record of 33-under set at the 2019 MW Championship. San Diego State (-60) beat runner-up New Mexico by 25 strokes, the largest margin from first to second in league championship history. The 260 in the final round was also the lowest round in MW Championship history by nine strokes. Both the 804 and the 260 were the lowest 54-hole score and 18-hole score, respectively, in Aztec recorded history, beating past bests of 806 and 261. It was the third tournament victory of the season for SDSU.
Donovan has now won the MW Coach-of-the-Year Award four times, including 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2023. According to GolfStat, SDSU's 282.65 stroke average so far this season is the best in program history.
Oyama, meanwhile, became San Diego State's fourth MW Freshman of the Year and first since Ricky DeSantis in 2014, joining Matt Hoffenberg in 2008 and Riccardo Michelini in 2013 as the other Aztec winners. Oyama captured medalist honors at the MW Championship at 19-under 197, blitzing the Catalina Course with a 10-under 62 in the final round to force a playoff. The 62 was the lowest score in MW Championship history and tied for the lowest in SDSU recorded history. Facing Colorado State's Christoph Bleier, who shot a final-round 63 of his own, in a playoff, Oyama parred the par-4, 470-yard 18th, while Bleier bogeyed it, giving Oyama his first collegiate victory.
Oyama and Bleier's 19-under 197 set a 54-hole championship record by three strokes. The 197 matched Alex Kang (2010 Alister MacKenzie Invitational) for the lowest 54-hole score in San Diego State recorded history. Oyama, whose previous best finish was a T8 at the Wolf Pack Invitational in October, became the third Aztec to win the MW Championship, joining John Lepak in 2001 and Puwit Anupansuebsai in 2021. On the season, Oyama ranks third on the team with a 71.67 stroke average over 33 rounds.
Lague and Hastings, meanwhile, each made their first all-conference team. Lague leads SDSU with a 70.30 stroke average this season through 33 rounds, some 44-under par. Out of his 11 tournaments, he has three top-5s, five top-10s and nine top-20s. Lague's 23 rounds below par are seven more than the next San Diego State player on the team. According to GolfStat, which as him ranked 46th in the country, Lague's 70.30 scoring average ranks second in Aztec single-season history behind Anupansuebsai, a four-time all-MW pick.
Hastings is ranked second on the team with a 70.76 scoring average (-29). Hastings has two top-5s, three top-10s and six top-20s out of the 11 tournaments he's competed in. Tied with Lague for the most rounds in the 60s (11) and ranked 109th by GolfStat, his 70.76 scoring average ranks fifth in SDSU single-season history (according to GolfStat).
San Diego State will compete in the 2023 NCAA Salem Regional, May 15-17, at the par-72, 7,126-yard The Cliffs at Keowee Falls in Salem, South Carolina. Seeded fourth, the top-five squads and lowest individual not on those teams from the Salem Regional will advance to the NCAA Championships, slated for May 26-31, at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
2022-23 Mountain West Awards
Golfer of the Year: Caden Fioroni, Jr., UNLV
Freshman of the Year: Dylan Oyama, San Diego State
Coach of the Year: Ryan Donovan, San Diego State
Mountain West Men's Golf All-Conference Team
Justin Hastings, San Diego State
Shea Lague, San Diego State
Christoph Bleier, Colorado State
Davis Bryant, Colorado State
Connor Jones, Colorado State
Matthew Manganello, Fresno State
Matthew Sutherland, Fresno State
Bastien Amat, New Mexico
Albert Boneta, New Mexico
Caden Fioroni, UNLV