SDSU Continues Fall Slate at Husky Invitational

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team continues its fall schedule at the Husky Invitational, Sept. 18-19, at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Washington.
 
The 54-hole event will be contested over two days with two rounds slated for Monday and a final 18 holes on Tuesday on the par-72, 7,055-yard course layout.
 
The Aztecs, who were ranked 25th in the final GolfStat ratings last year (ratings have not been updated for the 2023-24 season), will be joined at the Olympic Course at Gold Mountain G.C. by No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 19 Oregon, No. 26 Colorado State, No. 34 Washington (tournament host), California, Oregon State, San Jose State, Seattle, St. Mary's, UCLA, Utah and Washington State.
 
The Gold Mountain G.C. will also play host to the 2024 Mountain West Championship. SDSU has won back-to-back league titles, including at the same course in 2022.
 
San Diego State will play the first two rounds with St. Mary's and individuals from Oklahoma, Oregon and Washington, and will tee off from the 10th hole, beginning at 8:40 a.m. PT Monday. Tuesday's final round will be based on team scoring.
 
The Aztecs are coming off a third-place showing at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, Sept. 8-10 at Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona. SDSU briefly pulled ahead of eventual winner Auburn (-56) early in the final round but couldn't quite hold on. Fresno State came in second at -45, while Ohio State (-37) and SMU (-32) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
 
San Diego State junior Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) completed his wire-to-wire victory in record-setting fashion to capture medalist honors. Hastings finished at 18-under for the tournament (195), one clear of Auburn's Jackson Koivun (-17) and Fresno State's Josephy Lloyd (-17). The 195 was the best 54-hole score in program history, beating Dylan Oyama's 197 from the 2023 Mountain West Championship this past spring and Alex Kang's 197 at the 2010 Alister MacKenzie Invitational.
 
It was the second career collegiate victory for Hastings (also 2022 UC San Diego Invitational) but the first while competing in the Aztec starting five. He shaved off five strokes from his previous 54-hole low round of 202 at the 2023 MW Championship. With the victory, Hastings earned an exemption into a 2024-25 Korn Ferry Tour season event still to be determined.
 
Junior Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) tied for eighth in the 75-man field at 12-under. Sophomore Tyler Kowack (Del Mar, Calif./La Jolla HS) tied for 22nd at -6, sophomore Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand) tied for 46th at -1 and junior Jack Townsend (San Diego/Charter School of San Diego) tied for 58th at +1.
 
Three other SDSU golfers played at the Maui Jim Individual last week on the par-72 Legend Trail course in Scottsdale. Senior Skyler Ngo (Las Vegas) took 22nd overall at 1-under 215, while freshman Nathan Sampson (Temecula, Calif.) tied for 29th at +3 and junior Rugthai Thongsom (Surat Thani, Thailand) came in 33rd at +16.
 
San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan has gone with the same lineup as the Maui Jim Intercollegiate of Hastings, Lague, Chokprajakchat, Kowack and Townsend.
 
Washington State won last year's Husky Invitational on Sept. 19-20, 2022, at 4-over 868 in an event that the Aztecs did not compete. SDSU last played in the tournament in 2021, tying for ninth out of 16 teams at 9-over 873. Current senior Liam Koeneke (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) and Lague each competed in that tournament with Koeneke tying for 61st (+9) and Lague tying for 69th (+12). Hastings is the only other current San Diego State player to play a collegiate round at the course, tying for 38th at the 2022 Mountain West Championship at +9.
 
Three other Aztec golfers will be in action at the Husky Individual, but on the Cascade course (par-72, 7,115 yards) competing as individuals. Those three are Ngo, Sampson and Thongsom.
 
Following the Husky Invitational, San Diego State next competes at New Mexico's William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, Sept. 25-26, at UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque, N.M.