Aztecs Begin Spring Season at Southwestern Invitational

SAN DIEGO -- The San Diego State men’s golf team begins its spring portion of the 2024-25 schedule at the Southwestern Invitational, Jan. 27-29 at Sherwood Country Club in Lake Sherwood, California.

The Aztecs, who finished 32nd in the final NCAA computer rankings in the fall, will once again face stout opponents in the 14-team field, hosted by Pepperdine. Other top-50 squads in the tournament include No. 5 Texas, No. 10 UCLA, No. 11 Arizona, No. 14 Florida, No. 15 Vanderbilt, No. 19 Pepperdine, No. 24 Duke, No. 43 USC and No. 44 UNLV. The other four teams are California, San Jose State, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Washington.

The event will feature 18-hole rounds on three consecutive days at the par-71, 7,076-yard Sherwood Country Club near Thousand Oaks, beginning on Monday morning.

San Diego State hasn’t competed in over three months but is coming off another successful fall campaign. After starting out the fall slate with a sixth-place showing at the William H. Tucker Invitational (Sept. 20-21) and a 12th at The Tindall (Sept. 23-24), the Aztecs rebounded with a third-place finish in the prestigious Jackson T. Stephens Cup from Oct. 21-22, before falling to then top-ranked Oklahoma in the third-place match, 3.5-1.5. SDSU then finished out the fall with a runner-up placing out of 13 teams at The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate (Oct. 28-29).

Senior Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) and junior Tyler Kowack (San Diego/Canyon Crest Academy) each lead San Diego State through four events with a 71.67 stroke average. Last week, Hastings captured the 2025 Latin American Amateur Championship in Buenos Aires, Argentina, receiving an invitation to compete in the 2025 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club and exemptions into The Open and the U.S. Open. Hastings is now 36th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Junior Chanachon Chokprajakchat (Bangkok, Thailand) is just two strokes behind Hastings and Kowack with a 71.83 scoring average, while freshman Harry Takis (Brisbane, Australia) is fourth at 72.83 and senior Shea Lague (Jamul, Calif./Steele Canyon HS) is fifth at 73.42.

For the spring opener, Aztec head coach Ryan Donovan penciled in the lineup of Hastings, Kowack, Chokprajakchat, Takis and sophomore Nathan Sampson (Temecula, Calif.) (75.83).

San Diego State will tee off from the first hole at 10:50 a.m. PT Monday alongside UCLA and Vanderbilt.

The Aztecs tied for third at last year’s event at 9-under-par 843, which was held at its usual North Ranch Country Club.

In 2021, SDSU rallied for the Southwestern Invitational team title after a gutsy final day that saw San Diego State post the best score by seven strokes. The Aztecs finished at 10-over-par 874 to beat Arizona State (+13) by three shots. Trailing by seven to ASU and in a tie for third after two rounds, SDSU fired a final-round 5-over 293 in windy and chilly conditions to blow by the Sun Devils and their 15-over 303.

It was San Diego State’s third Southwestern Invitational title (also 2011 and 2012), which now only trails Arizona State (9), USC (7), Stanford (5) and UCLA (5).

Past individual winners of the Southwestern Invitational include notable golfers Corey Pavin (1978 and 1981), Billy Mayfair (1987), Tiger Woods (1996), Paul Casey (1998), Anthony Kim (2006), Patrick Cantlay (2011), Maverick McNealy (2014), Sahith Theegala (2017 and 2020), Justin Suh (2019) and David Puig (2021-22). The lone medalist from the Aztecs was Matt Hoffenberg in 2012 at 2-over 212.

This is the 46th edition of the Southwestern Invitational, which is the merger of two previously existing tournaments: the Southwestern Intercollegiate, launched by USC in 1978, and the Jones Invitational, hosted by Pepperdine in 2014 and 2015. This year’s event was moved to Sherwood Country Club because of renovations being done to North Ranch Country Club.

Following the Southwestern Invitational, SDSU will compete in the John A. Burns Intercollegiate at the Ocean Course Hokuala, Feb. 13-15, in Lihue, Hawaii.