SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's golf team opens its 2019 spring schedule next week when it participates in The Prestige presented by Charles Schwab, Feb. 18-20, at the famed PGA West complex in La Quinta, Calif.
The Aztecs are one of 15 teams slated to compete in the 19th annual tournament, which will feature 18-hole rounds on three consecutive days at the par-71, 7,100-yard Greg Norman Course, with UC Davis serving as the host school.
This year's installment of The Prestige has added excitement for families, friends and Aztec fans outside the area, as Golfweek.com will host live streaming coverage of the second and third rounds, with Will Haskett and Steve Scott on the call, and Lance Ringler providing analysis.
Produced by Thaler Media/K2 Sports Ventures using state-of-the-art technology, coverage will begin on Golfweek.com/ThePrestige with the second round at 9 a.m. PT on Tuesday, Feb. 19, and end with the final round on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 10 a.m. PT. This video stream supplements the live scoring that can be found on Golfstat.com.
The Prestige lineup features 14 teams ranked among the top 100 in the latest Golfstat index, including San Diego State (57) and host UC Davis (82). The Aztecs will also lock horns with defending national champion Oklahoma State (1), Pepperdine (14), LSU (16), Arkansas (25), Northwestern (35), Stanford (39), Oregon (42), UCLA (44), Iowa State (46), Utah (67) and Notre Dame (75), while Stirling University of Scotland rounds out the highly competitive field.
For his team's desert excursion, SDSU head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in the starting five of Leo Oyo (Tokyo, Japan), Otto Vanhatalo (Espoo, Finland), Christian Banke (Danville, Calif.), Steve Sugimoto (San Diego, Calif.) and Youssef Guezzale (San Diego, Calif.).
Sugimoto leads the Aztecs with a 72.33 scoring average, followed by Guezzale (72.58), who was the lone SDSU player to start all four tournaments during the fall slate. In addition, Banke (73.17) is coming off a seventh-place tie at the USD Farms Invitational last week, where he shot a 2-over 218 as an unattached competitor, while Oyo (74.11) was the team's highest finisher in its fall finale at the Saint Mary's Invitational, where he landed in the 12th position at 2-under 211. Elsewhere, Vanhatalo will be making his first varsity start and second appearance of the season after tying for 16th with 2-over 218 as individual golfer at the Pioneer Creek Collegiate in Minnesota last September.
SDSU will be competing at The Prestige for the eighth consecutive year after landing in the 13th spot last season. Battling high winds that forced the cancellation of round one, the Aztecs struggled throughout the remaining 36 holes, finishing with a collective 33-over 601.
Banke was the Aztecs' top finisher at the 2018 edition of the tournament, tying for 33rd at 5-over 147, while Sugimoto tied for 57th at 10-over 152.
Oklahoma State (-1) will be looking to defend its team title from a year ago after edging Pepperdine (E) by one shot, while Oregon (+2) took third, followed closely by LSU (+4) and Stanford (+5).
Nine of the top 17 individual finishers from last season's event, including medalist Clay Feagler of Pepperdine, who carded a 7-under 135, LSU's Luis Gagne (3rd, -4), Oklahoma State teammates Viktor Hovland (T-4th, -2) and Zach Bauchou (T-4th, -2), and Stanford's Isaiah Salinda (T-7th, -1).
The Greg Norman Course has played host to The Prestige at PGA WEST on 11 different occasions (2004-08, 2011, 2013-14, and 2016-18). Other venues included the Desert Willow Golf Club (2000-01), La Quinta Mountain Resort Course (2002-03), TPC Stadium Course (2009-10) and Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course (2015). In it is history, The Prestige was a fixture on the fall segment of college men's golf schedule for 12 years before moving to the spring in 2013.
Following next week's event, the Aztecs will return to the fairways for the Southwestern Invitational, Feb. 25-26, at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, Calif.