Aztecs 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 19th 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. 28) is one of five programs in the 16-team field that is ranked in the top-60 of the latest NCAA computer rankings, released March 4. Others in the top-60 include No. 30 Brigham Young, No. 38 Long Beach State, No. 47 Colorado and No. 51 San Diego. Also in the field are Saint Mary’s, Pacific, UC San Diego, San Francisco, Fresno State, Cal Poly, Wyoming, UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, UT Arlington and UC Irvine.

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 Brigham Young, Long Beach State and USD. 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.

Sophomore Harry Takis (Brisbane, Australia) leads the Aztecs with a 69.33 stroke average across four tournaments and 12 rounds. Takis was named the Mountain West Men’s Golfer of the Week on Thursday for a second time this season after tying for seventh at the Southern Highlands Collegiate, March 1-3, in Las Vegas. Takis is the top-ranked player in the latest computer ratings. Out of his four tournaments, he tied for second at the Sahalee Players Championship on Sept. 6-7, won the Southwestern Invitational on Jan. 26-28, took second at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate on Feb. 12-14 and then tied for seventh at the Southern Highlands Collegiate on March 1-3.

Senior Tyler Kowack (San Diego/Canyon Crest Academy) ranks second on the team with a 73.11 scoring average, while sophomore Kai Hirayama (Arcadia, Calif.) is third at 73.67. Senior Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand) (fourth, 73.72), junior Nathan Sampson (Temecula, Calif.) (fifth, 74.58), junior Phillip Kench (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines HS/UNLV) (sixth, 75.00) and junior Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif./Pacific Ridge HS) (seventh, 76.44) have also competed in the starting lineup for SDSU this season.

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 18th time overall and 16th 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 State is the defending tournament champion at 43-under par, 16 strokes ahead of both Colorado (-27) and San Diego (-27). Brigham Young (-18) and Saint Mary’s (-13) also finished among the top-5 in the tournament.

Former Aztec Justin Hastings earned medalist honors at last year’s Lamkin Invite, breaking the tournament course record at -16. Takis and Brigham Young’s Simon Kwon each tied for second at -12, while San Diego’s Ian Maspat and Notre Dame’s Jacob Modleski came in fourth at -10.

Chokprajakchat tied for ninth at last year’s event at -8, Oyama and Sampson tied for 21st at -3, Kowack tied for 50th at +3 and Kench came in 86th at +13.

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 16-18, in Pauma Valley, California.