SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team will look to win its third straight Wyoming Cowboy Classic, which will take place on the par-72, 7,334-yard Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Arizona. The Cowboy Classic will feature 36 holes on Monday and the final 18-hole round on Tuesday.
The Aztecs are one of 21 teams slated for the Cowboy Classic and are the top-ranked team in the latest GolfStat rankings at No. 28 (as of March 28) with No. 34 TCU, No. 50 Missouri, No. 54 Long Beach State and No. 59 Kansas also in the top 60. Others in the field include tournament host Wyoming, Denver, Grand Canyon, Iowa State, LMU, Missouri, Pacific, St. Mary's College, Southern Utah, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, UNLV, UT Arlington, Utah State, Utah Valley, UTEP and Weber State.
Last year, bolstered by three top-10 individual finishes, SDSU defended its Wyoming Cowboy Classic title by breaking its own tournament-record and finishing at 39-under-par 825. Leading after each of the first two rounds, San Diego State extended its advantage in the final round with a 17-under 271, the lowest round of the tournament in the 25-team field. The Aztecs (-39) easily captured the classic with runner-up Long Beach State 13 strokes back at 26-under 838. Mountain West schools Colorado State (-23), Nevada (-23), UNLV (-18) and Fresno State (-14) finished third through sixth, respectively. The Aztecs won the 2021 Wyoming Cowboy Classic at 33-under.
Prior to last year's tournament, San Diego State previously competed in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic in 2009 when five individuals played in the tournament, not counting in team scores.
The Aztecs will tee off from the 12th hole at 7:30 a.m. PT Monday and will play all 36 holes with Missouri. Tuesday's final round will be based on Monday's scores.
SDSU is coming off an 11th-place showing at Arizona's National Invitational Tournament at 4-under 860 on March 17-18. Sophomore Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) was San Diego State's top finisher in a three-way tie for 13th out of 84 golfers at 5-under 211.
Sophomore Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) tied for 44th at even-par 216, while freshman Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif./Pacific Ridge HS) tied for 50th (+1), senior Youssef Guezzale (San Diego/La Jolla HS) tied for 59th at (+4) and freshman Tyler Kowack (Del Mar, Calif./La Jolla HS) tied for 69th (+6).
San Diego State head coach Ryan Donovan has gone with the lineup of Skyler Ngo (Las Vegas/Bishop Gorman HS), Hastings, Lague, freshman Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand) and Oyama.
Lague leads the Aztecs with a 70.08 scoring average, followed by Hastings (70.96), Oyama (72.17), Kowack (72.67) and Chokprajakchat.
Following this weekend's Wyoming Cowboy Classic, San Diego State will compete April 10-12 in the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, California.