SAN DIEGO – The San Diego State men's golf team begins its spring schedule when Monday at The Prestige presented by Charles Schwab at PGA WEST, Feb. 17-19, in La Quinta, Calif.
The Aztecs are one of 16 schools slated to compete in the 20th annual event, which will feature 18-hole rounds on three consecutive days at the par-71, 7,100-yard Greg Norman Course.
The tournament includes six programs ranked among the top 25 in the latest Golfstat team rankings released on Feb. 12, as well as eight of the top 25 individual players in the nation. Along with No. 42 SDSU, set to compete at The Prestige are No. 1 Pepperdine, No. 9 Texas Tech, No. 13 SMU, No. 16 Texas, No. 22 UCLA, No. 25 LSU, No. 33 Oklahoma State, No. 35 Northwestern, No. 41 Arkansas, No. 45 Stanford, No. 62 Oregon State, No. 72 Iowa State, No. 82 UC Davis, No. 100 Wyoming and Univ. of Stirling (Scotland).
San Diego State will tee off from the first hole, beginning at 7:30 a.m. PT Monday, and will be playing with Arkansas, Oregon State and SMU for the first round.
Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in juniors Puwit Anupansuebsai (Nakhon Phanom, Thailand), Christian Banke (Danville, Calif.), Callum Bruce (Banff, Scotland) and Steve Sugimoto (San Diego), along with sophomore Leo Oyo (Tokyo).
SDSU last competed as a team at the Saint Mary's Invitational from Nov. 4-6 at Poppy Hills Golf Club in Pebble Beach, Calif., where it came in seventh at 4-over-par 856 over 54 holes. Zihao Jin (Beijing) was San Diego State's top finisher, tying for sixth at 4-under 209.
Four Aztec individuals also competed at the CSUSM Fujikura Invitational from Feb. 3-4 at Shadowridge Country Club in Vista, Calif., where Sugimoto (8-under 208) and Jin (2-under 214) finished 1-2 at the event. Amadeo Figus (Rome) and Newport Laparojkit (Montebello, Calif.) also tied for eighth and 10th, respectively, at 4-over 220 and 5-over 221.
Anupansuebsai (69.18) has the lowest scoring average for SDSU after competing in four of the team's five events in the fall, including a 5-stroke individual victory at the Bill Cullum Invitational at Wood Ranch Golf Club in Simi Valley, Calif., on Oct. 14-15. Anupansuebsai carded an 18-under 198 in an event that San Diego State won by 12 strokes over runner-up Grand Canyon.
Oyo (70.57) and Banke (70.71) played in all five events in the fall and each logged three top-25 individual finishes. Oyo's best finish in the fall was fifth at the Bill Cullum Invite at 10-under 206, while Banke's best showing was a tie for fourth at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, N.M., on Sept. 27-28 with a 6-under 210.
Sugimoto (72.29), meanwhile, looks to ride the momentum of his 6-stroke win at the CSUSM Fujikura Invite, and Bruce (73.14) joins Banke and Oyo as the only Aztecs to compete in all five team events in the fall.
SDSU will be competing at The Prestige for the ninth straight year after finishing 16th last season. San Diego State improved each day, but couldn't overcome a 21-over 305 opening round. The Aztecs followed with 14-over 298 and 12-over 296.
Banke, Sugimoto and Otto Vanhatalo all tied for 47th at last year's tournament at 11-over 224, while Oyo finished 77th at 14-over 236. Banke was also the Aztecs' top finisher at the 2018 edition of the rain-shortened tournament, tying for 33rd at 5-over 147, while Sugimoto tied for 57th at 10-over 152.
LSU is the defending tournament team champion and has won three of the last four team titles.
The Greg Norman Course has played host to The Prestige at PGA West on 12 different occasions (2004-08, 2011, 2013-14, and 2016-19). 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 its history, The Prestige was a fixture on the fall segment of college men's golf schedule for 13 years before moving to the spring in 2013.
Following The Prestige, SDSU will co-host the Lamkin Invitational at San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista, Calif., from March 9-10.
Men’s Golf Opens Spring Season at The Prestige
