SDSU Men’s Golf Set for John A. Burns Intercollegiate

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team continues its season this weekend at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the Ocean Course at Hokuala, Feb. 15-17, in Lihue, Kaua'i, Hawaii.
 
The Aztecs enter the tournament ranked 33rd in the latest National Collegiate Golf Rankings, which were released Wednesday morning. SDSU is one of eight teams in the 20-team field who are in the top-50 of the rankings, joining No. 9 Arizona, No. 19 New Mexico, No. 20 California, No. 30 Texas A&M, No. 37 Brigham Young, No. 47 Fresno State and No. 49 Long Beach State. Others in the field include tourney host Hawai'I, Georgia Southern, Grand Canyon, Little Rock, Saint Mary's, San Francisco, UC Santa Barbara, UNLV, USC, Utah, UTEP and Washington State.
 
The event will feature 18-hole rounds on three consecutive days at the par-72, 7,156-yard course.
 
San Diego State is coming off a tie for third with UCLA at the Southwestern Invitational, Jan. 29-31, shooting 9-under-par 843. Sophomore Tyler Kowack (Del Mar, Calif./La Jolla HS) was the top Aztec finisher, tying for sixth out of 75 golfers at 7-under 206 for his third straight top-10 placing. Kowack leads SDSU with a 69.27 stroke average through 15 rounds. At 35-under for the season, Kowack also leads San Diego State with 11 rounds below par and eight rounds in the 60s.
 
Junior Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) is second on the team with a 70.27 average, followed by sophomore Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand) (71.13) and junior Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) (71.40).
 
Ryan Donovan has gone with the starting lineup of Kowack, Hastings, Chokprajakchat, Lague and senior Jackson Moss (San Diego/Point Loma HS).
 
The Aztecs will tee off between the 10th and 12th holes, beginning at 8:30 a.m. HT (10:30 a.m. PT) in Thursday's opening round and will play along with Fresno State, Grand Canyon and Utah.
 
SDSU is playing in the John Burns Intercollegiate for the second time since taking fourth in the 2008 event. The 2008 John Burns Intercollegiate was the seventh straight year San Diego State played in the tournament. Back then, the tournament was played in Leilehua. San Diego State has had a history of success in the tournament, capturing the team championship in 2002 and finishing second in 2003. Two Aztecs have also grabbed the individual spotlight with John Lieber and Lars Johansson each taking home medalist honors in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Last year, SDSU came in fifth at 24-under 840. Current San Diego State players Lague (9th, -11), Hastings (T-14th, -9) and Chokprajakchat (T-45th, -2) all competed in the event.
 
Past individual winners of the John Burns Intercollegiate include notable golfers Steve Pate (1983), Notah Begay (1995), Tiger Woods (1996), Bo Van Pelt (1997), Ryan Moore (2005), Shotaro Ban (2015), Beau Hossler (2016) and Sam Bennett (2023). Oklahoma State has a won record six Burns titles while California captured five straight titles from 2011-15.
 
In its 47th year, the John A. Burns Intercollegiate is considered the University of Hawai'i's premiere golf tournament. The tournament was held primarily at Kane'ohe Klipper Golf Course before moving to Leilehua Golf Course in 2000 for an 11-year run. The tournament then moved to Turtle Bay Resort from 2011-13 and then to Wailua Golf Course on Kaua'i in 2014 for the next seven years. The tournament remained on Kaua'i, relocating to Ocean Course Hokuala.
 
The tournament is named after former governor of the state of Hawai'i, John A. Burns, who took part in initiating statehood in 1959 and
had a hand in upgrading UH's athletics program. Shortly after his death, his namesake tournament was founded. This tournament reflects back to Burns, the political power who was really a "sportsman at heart."
 
Following the John Burns Intercollegiate, San Diego State plays in the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas from Feb. 25-27.