SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team is set to co-host its lone home tournament of the year Monday at the RE Lamkin Invitational at historic San Diego Country Club in nearby Chula Vista, California. The Aztecs and co-host San Diego are two of 16 teams slated to compete in the 17th annual event, which will feature two 18-hole rounds on Monday and a single round Tuesday on the par-72, 7,033-yard course layout.
SDSU (No. 31) is one of eight programs in the 16-team field that is ranked in the top-50 of the latest NCAA computer rankings, released Feb. 8. Others in the top-50 include No. 4 Washington, No. 13 Georgia Tech, No. 19 New Mexico, No. 29 LSU, No. 41 LMU, No. 43 Brigham Young and No. 48 Fresno State. Also in the field are Cal Poly, Colorado, Colorado State, Hawai'i, Saint Mary's, San Diego, Santa Clara and Wyoming.
San Diego State will tee off between the opening and fourth holes, respectively, in the shotgun start at 7:30 a.m. PT Monday, and will be playing with Washington, LSU and San Diego. The same four teams will play together in the second round on Monday, tentatively set for 12:30 p.m. PT. Tuesday's final round will be based on scoring from the first two rounds and will start at 8 a.m. PT.
Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan has put out the lineup of Tyler Kowack (Del Mark, Calif./La Jolla HS), Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS), Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand), Jackson Moss (San Diego/Point Loma HS) and Skyler Ngo (Las Vegas).
SDSU is playing without usual front line starter Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands), who is playing in the PGA Tour's Puerto Rico Open next weekend as an amateur at Grand Reserve Country Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.
Competing as individuals will be Nathan Sampson (Temecula, Calif./Great Oak HS), Jack Townsend (San Diego/Charter School of San Diego), Rugtahi Thongsom (Surat Thani, Thailand) and Liam Koeneke (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines HS).
Kowack leads San Diego State with a 70.10 stroke average this season, followed by Hastings (70.86), Chokprajakchat (71.76) and Lague (71.90).
Formerly known as the San Diego Intercollegiate, the tournament was launched in 2008 primarily as an opportunity for local schools to compete against one another. The event has now expanded from local competition to host teams from all across the nation.
This is the 16th time overall and 14th year in a row that the Lamkin Invitational will be held at San Diego Country Club. The inaugural meet took place at the Chula Vista course in 2018 and moved to the La Jolla Country Club in 2009, followed by a one-year stint at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, California, in 2010. Before becoming a two-day tournament in 2011, which lasted through the 2020 season, the event was a one-day, 36-hole challenge.
New Mexico is the defending tournament champion at 20-under par, just one shot ahead of the Aztecs (-19). Washington (-7), Colorado State (-7) and UCLA (-3) rounded out last year's top-5. LSU is back this year after winning the 2022 tournament at -37.
Washington's Petr Hruby is back to defend his individual title after firing a 12-under 204 last year. Hastings tied for second in 2023 at -8 and is the only player not in last year's top 6 back to compete this year. New Mexico's Bastien Amat (-8) and Albert Boneta (-6), Lague (-6) and Colorado State's Christoph Bleier (-6) each are back for this weekend's tournament.
Besides Hastings and Lague, Kowack is SDSU's top returner after taking solo 21st at even-par. Townsend (T-30th, +3), Ngo (T-32nd, +4), Chokprajakchat (T-60th, +9), Thongsom (T-63rd, +10) and Koeneke (T-70th, +11) also competed in last year's event for San Diego State.
Past notable medalist winners in the Lamkin Invitational include Arizona State's Jon Rahm (-7 in 2013), San Diego State's Xander Schauffele (-11 in 2014), Washington's C.T. Pan (-8 in 2015), Texas' Beau Hossler (-8 in 2016) and San Francisco's Tim Widing (-8 in 2020).
Next up for the Aztecs will be The Goodwin, March 28-30, at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco.
Aztecs Set to Co-Host RE Lamkin Invitational
