SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men's golf team opens the fall portion of the 2023-24 campaign this weekend when it travels to the desert for the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, Sept. 8-9, at Mirabel Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The 54-hole event will be contested over three days, beginning Friday and Saturday with tee times at 8 a.m. PT. The final round is slated for 7 a.m. PT Sunday and will be based on the scores of the first two rounds on the par-70, 7,118-yard course layout.
The Aztecs are one of seven teams in the 15-team field who finished among the top-50 last year in the final edition of the 2023 GolfStat ratings. No. 25 SDSU is joined by No. 12 Auburn, No. 19 Oregon, No. 23 Ohio State, No. 43 Missouri, No. 46 New Mexico and No. 48 Colorado. Filling out the field are Arkansas-Little Rock, Fresno State, Georgia State, Mercer, Santa Clara, SMU, Texas State and UNLV.
San Diego State will tee off at 8 a.m. PT Friday with No. 12 Auburn and No. 19 Oregon.
The Aztecs are returning four of their five regular starters and five players overall who played at least 25 rounds for SDSU in the 2022-23 campaign. San Diego State finished with three team championships last year, claiming New Mexico's William H. Tucker Intercollegiate (Sept. 23-24, 2022) at 16-under 848, the Wyoming Cowboy Classic (April 3-4, 2023) title for a third straight year at 7-under 857 and the MW Championship (April 28-30, 2023) for a second straight year at 60-under 804. According to Golfstat, the Aztecs' 281.85 stroke average last season was the best in program history, while at the MW Championship SDSU set program lows for a 54-hole score (804) and 18-hole score (260 in the final round), winning the title by 25 strokes over runner-up New Mexico.
Now in his 21st season at the helm of the Aztecs, head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in the lineup of junior Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands), junior Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS), sophomore Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand), sophomore Tyler Kowack (Del Mar, Calif./La Jolla HS) and junior Jack Townsend (San Diego/Charter School of San Diego). Also competing individually for SDSU at the nearby Maui Jim Individual at Legend Trail are senior Skyler Ngo (Las Vegas, Nev.), junior Rugthai Thongsom (Surat Thani, Thailand) and freshman Nathan Sampson (Temecula, Calif.).
Last year, Lague and Hastings both garnered PING All-West Region accolades and were named to the Mountain West All-Conference Team. Lague led San Diego State with a 70.36 scoring average and 25 rounds below par. Hastings, meanwhile, was second on the team with a 70.69 scoring average, while leading the squad with 13 rounds in the 60s and ranking second with 18 rounds under par.
Sophomore Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif.) ranked third on the team at 71.61 and captured medalist honors at the MW Championship, while Chokprajakchat ranked fifth at 72.38 and Kowack was sixth at 72.76. Thongsom averaged 73.22 in nine rounds, Ngo 74.50 in 12 rounds and Townsend 76.17 in 12 rounds. A Great Oak High School graduate, Sampson will be making this collegiate debut this weekend.
This year will be the seventh annual Maui Jim Intercollegiate. The Aztecs are competing in the event for a third straight year after taking eighth in 2022 (-24) and fourth in 2021 (-30). Lague was SDSU's top finisher last year in a tie for fifth at 12-under 198. Hastings tied for 31st (-3), Oyama tied for 44th (-1) and Chokprajakchat tied for 51st (E).
Auburn is the defending champion, carding a 45-under 795 last year. Arizona State and Georgia Tech (2018 and 2021) have won two of the six Maui Jim Intercollegiate events (2017 and 2019), while LSU (2016) also has a team title in Scottsdale.
Following the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, SDSU next competes at the Husky Invitational, Sept. 18-19, at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Washington.
Aztecs Set for Opener at Maui Jim Intercollegiate
