SDSU Ready to Co-Host R.E. Lamkin Invitational

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 R.E. 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 18th 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. 25) is one of seven programs in the 16-team field that is ranked in the top-50 of the latest NCAA computer rankings, released March 5. Others in the top-50 include No. 22 Brigham Young, No. 32 Notre Dame, No. 33 Colorado, No. 35 San Diego, No. 40 Colorado State and No. 47 New Mexico. Also in the field is Cal Poly, Fresno State, Hawai’i, LMU, Saint Mary’s, Santa Clara, UC Davis, UC San Diego and Wyoming.

San Diego State will tee off between the opening and fourth holes, respectively, in the shotgun start at 8 a.m. PT Monday, and will be playing with LMU, Notre Dame and San Diego. The same four teams will play together in the second round on Monday, tentatively set for 1  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 penciled in the lineup of Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands), Tyler Kowack (San Diego/Canyon Crest Academy), Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand), Harry Takis (Brisbane, Australia) and Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif./Pacific Ridge HS).

Competing as individuals will be Phillip Kench (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines HS), Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS), Jackson Moss (San Diego/Point Loma HS), Nathan Sampson (Temecula, Calif.), Rugthai Thongsom (Surat Thani, Thailand) and Jack Townsend (San Diego/Charter School of San Diego).

Hastings leads the Aztecs with a 70.83 scoring average through 18 rounds this season. In January, Hastings captured the Latin American Amateur Championship, receiving an invitation to compete in the 2025 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club and exemptions into The Open and the U.S. Open. He has played in two PGA TOUR events this spring, tying for 13th at the Mexico Open at VidantaWorld, Feb. 20-23, at 13-under-par 271 and missing the cut just this past weekend at the Puerto Rico Open after being at 2-under 142 through 36 holes. Hastings is ranked 11th in the latest PGA TOUR University rankings and 23th in the latest World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR).

Chokprajakchat is second on the team at 72.00, while Kowack (72.19), Takis (72.30), Lague (73.61), Oyama (74.00) and Sampson (74.78) have also logged rounds for SDSU in the 2024-25 campaign.

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 17th time overall and 15th 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.

San Diego is the defending tournament champion at 22-under par, four shots ahead of Colorado (-18) and Fresno State (-18). Georgia Tech (-16), New Mexico (-15) and LMU (-15) also finished among the top in the tournament.

San Diego’s Craig Ronne earned medalist honors at last year’s Lamkin Invite at -12 with LMU’s Mason Snyder (-10), Fresno State’s Matthew Sutherland (-8) and LMU’s Riley Lewis (-8) also in the mix.

Hastings tied for second in the 2023 event but missed last year’s competition while playing in the Puerto Rico Open. Chokprajakchat is SDSU’s top returning finisher from a year ago at -4 (T-16th), while Townsend (T-23rd, -2), Lague (T-39th, E), Moss (T-47th, +2), Sampson (T-52nd, +3), Thongsom (T-79th, +10) and Kowack (DQ) are also back to play in 2025.

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 Pauma Invitational, March 17-18, in Pauma Valley, California.