SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men’s golf team begins its spring portion of the 2025-26 schedule at the Southwestern Invitational, Jan. 26-28 at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, California.
The Aztecs, who finished 29th in the final NCAA computer rankings in the fall, will once again face stout opponents in the 13-team field, hosted by No. 15 Pepperdine. Other top-50 squads in the tournament include No. 17 New Mexico, No. 19 Utah, No. 21 UCLA, No. 24 USC, No. 41 Washington and No. 47 SMU. The other five teams are Colorado State, LMU, San Diego, San Jose State and UNLV.
The event will feature 18-hole rounds on three consecutive days at the par-72, 6,800-yard Lakes and Oaks courses.
SDSU hasn’t competed since coming in over three months but is coming off another successful fall campaign. After starting out the fall slate with a fifth-place finish at the Sahalee Players Championship (Sept. 6-7) and a tied for seventh at the Wohali Classic (Sept. 15-16), San Diego State finished second of 14 teams at the Marquette Intercollegiate from Oct. 5-7.
Sophomore Harry Takis (Brisbane, Australia) leads the Aztecs with a 71.33 scoring average, although he only competed in one event, a T2 at the Sahalee Players Championship at 2-under 214.
Senior Tyler Kowack (San Diego/Canyon Crest Academy) is second at 73.22 across three fall tournaments and nine rounds, followed by Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand) (73.89), junior Nathan Sampson (Temecula, Calif.) (74.56), sophomore Kai Hirayama (Arcadia, Calif.) (75.00) and junior Phillip Kench (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) (75.00).
For the spring opener, SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in the lineup up Takis, Kowack, Chokprajakchat, Hirayama and redshirt junior Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif./Pacific Ridge HS), who will be making his 2025-26 debut. Additionally, freshman Beau Sahr (Eagle, Idaho) (76.67) is competing as an individual and won’t count to the team’s score.
SDSU took second at last year’s event at 7-under 845, which took place at Sherwood Country Club in Lake Sherwood, California.
In 2021, San Diego State rallied for the Southwestern Invitational team title after a gutsy final day that saw the Aztecs post the best score by seven strokes. SDSU finished at 10-over-par 874 to beat Arizona State (+13) by three shots. Trailing by seven to ASU and in a tie for third after two rounds, San Diego State fired a final-round 5-over 293 in windy and chilly conditions to blow by the Sun Devils and their 15-over 303.
It was San Diego State’s third Southwestern Invitational title (also 2011 and 2012), which now only trails Arizona State (9), USC (7), Stanford (5) and UCLA (5).
Past individual winners of the Southwestern Invitational include notable golfers Corey Pavin (1978 and 1981), Billy Mayfair (1987), Tiger Woods (1996), Paul Casey (1998), Anthony Kim (2006), Patrick Cantlay (2011), Maverick McNealy (2014), Sahith Theegala (2017 and 2020), Justin Suh (2019) and David Puig (2021-22). The lone medalist from the Aztecs was Matt Hoffenberg in 2012 at 2-over 212.
This is the 47th edition of the Southwestern Invitational, which is the merger of two previously existing tournaments: the Southwestern Intercollegiate, launched by USC in 1978, and the Jones Invitational, hosted by Pepperdine in 2014 and 2015.
Following the Southwestern Invitational, SDSU will compete in the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the Ocean Course Hokuala, Feb. 12-14, in Lihue, Hawaii.
Aztecs Begin Spring Campaign at Southwestern Invitational
Three-day tournament kicks off Monday at North Ranch Country Club
