Aztec Men’s Golf Set for Season Opener at William H. Tucker Intercollegiate

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men’s golf team opens the fall portion of the 2024-25 campaign this weekend when it travels to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, Sept. 20-21, at UNM Championship Golf Course.

The 54-hole event will be contested over two days with two rounds slated for Friday, beginning with a 7:30 a.m. MT (6:30 a.m. PT) shotgun start, and the final round set for 7:30 a.m. MT (6:30 a.m. PT) Saturday based on the scores of the first two rounds on the par-72, 7,546-yard course layout.

The Aztecs enter the season ranked 24th in the preseason Golf Channel poll and are joined in the 17-team field by host New Mexico, No. 25 Colorado, Arkansas State, Eastern Michigan, Fresno State, Grand Canyon, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, New Mexico State, Oral Roberts, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Stetson, UNLV, USC and UTEP.

SDSU returns four of its five starters from last season’s squad that finished sixth at the NCAA West Lafayette Regional and also returns the 2023 MW individual champion Dylan Oyama (Carlsbad, Calif./Pacific Ridge HS), who redshirted last season with an injury.

Now in his 22nd season at the helm of the Aztecs, head coach Ryan Donovan has penciled in the lineup of junior Tyler Kowack (San Diego/Canyon Crest Academy), senior Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands), junior Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand), senior Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) and freshman Harry Takis (Brisbane, Australia). Sophomore Nathan Sampson (Temecula, Calif.) will also be competing as an individual.

Kowack led the team with a 70.91 stroke average last season across 35 rounds, and also topped SDSU in rounds in the 60s (13) and rounds below par (21). Kowack captured the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, Sept. 25-26, at 11-under 205. Out of 12 tournaments last season, Kowack had one victory, two top-5s, three top-10s and six top-20 finishes. Along with Hastings, Kowack was named a PING All-West Region selection and an all-Mountain West pick a year ago.

Hastings, meanwhile, is ranked 14th in the latest PGA TOUR University rankings for the class of 2025 and is a Golf Channel preseason honorable-mention All-America selection. Last year, Hastings was named a PING All-West Region selection and all-Mountain West pick, each for a second straight year, after ranking second on the team behind Kowack with a 71.03 stroke average over 33 rounds. Hastings, who also ranked second in rounds in the 60s (9), rounds below par (15) and even-par rounds (4), opened the season with a wire-to-wire victory at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate (Sept. 8-10) with an 18-under 195, the best 54-hole score in program history. In 11 tournaments for the season, he had a win, three top-5 finishes, five top-10 efforts and six top 20s.

Chokprajakchat ranked third on the team a year ago with a 71.67 scoring average, while Lague was fifth among starters at 72.56. Takis will be making his collegiate debut this weekend and Sampson averaged 72.50 across individual events.

The Scarlet and Black will be competing in the Tucker Intercollegiate for the 14th time in the last 18 years - but just the second since 2019 - while making its 19th appearance overall.

The last time SDSU played in the event in 2022, San Diego State claimed the team title by eight strokes at 16-under-par 848. Youssef Guezzale was the top performer for the Aztecs at 6-under, good enough for a tie for fifth. Current SDSU golfers who competed in the event were Kowack (T-7th, -5), Lague (T-14th, -2), Oyama (T-23rd, +3), Hastings (T-30th, +3) and Chokprajakchat (T-53rd, +7).

It was the third Tucker Intercollegiate victory for San Diego State, joining the 2010 and 2016 tournaments, and second-place efforts in 2007 and 2009. In 2016, the Aztecs posted a winning total of 1-under 863 to outlast Colorado State (+9) and BYU (+14), bolstered by PJ Samiere's (-2) fourth-place individual finish. Meanwhile in 2010, the Scarlet and Black rallied from a seven-stroke deficit during the final round to edge North Texas by one stroke.

The Tucker Intercollegiate, which was named in honor of former University of New Mexico groundskeeper William H. Tucker, is the second-oldest men's college tournament in the country behind only the New England Intercollegiate. Previous individual competitors include Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Tommy Armour III, Tim Herron, Duffy Waldorf, Notah Begay and Matt Kuchar.

Following the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, SDSU immediately heads to King County, Washington, to compete in Washington’s The Tindall, Sept. 23-24, at Aldarra Golf Club.