With a tournament field that included over 100 golfers, San Diego State junior Justin Hastings finished in a tie for fifth with a tournament score of 6-under at the John Burns Intercollegiate on Saturday.
The Ocean Course at Hokuala in Lihue, Hawaii, proved to be a challenge as Hastings was one of 27 golfers out of the 122-player field to finish under par. The junior was also the only Aztec to finish under par.
Hastings started the tournament on a birdie rampage with six birdies, an eagle and a bogey to card a 7-under 65 in his first round.
In the second round, Hastings continued his great play with an eagle and two birdies through the first six holes. The junior wasn’t able to keep the momentum going as he carded two bogeys and three double-bogeys to card a 3-over 75.
In his final round, Hastings bounced back, recording five birdies on his way to carding a 2-under par 70 to jump into a tie for fifth.
Despite Hastings’ great performance, as a team, SDSU finished in 12th place out of 20 teams with a tournament score of 8-over.
After the first round, the Aztecs were in sixth place at 6-under. With back-to-back 7-over-par rounds in the final two days, the Aztecs finished 12th place, their first tournament outside the top 10 since September.
Junior Tyler Kowack came in second for the Aztecs, finishing in a tie for 36th at 2-over. Similar to Hastings, Kowack played well in the first round, carding a 2-under 70 with five birdies and three bogeys. In the second round, Kowack shot a 3-over 75 with only one birdie and four bogeys. In his final round, the junior carded a 1-over 73 with four birdies, three bogeys and a double-bogey.
Sophomore Chanachon Chokprajakchat finished in third for SDSU, in a tie for 58th at 6-over. Chokprajakchat recorded four birdies, a bogey and two double-bogeys in his first round to card a 1-over par 73. The sophomore finished one stroke worse in his second round at 2-over par due to a quadruple bogey on his last hole.
Following Chokprajakchat was junior Shea Lague, who finished in a tie for 75th at 9-over. Over Lague’s three rounds, he carded back-to-back 2-over 74s and a 5-over 77 in his final round. Lague had 13 birdies for the tournament, but 13 bogeys and four double-bogeys.
Rounding out the group was senior Jackson Moss, who finished in a tie for 93rd at 13-over. After his first two rounds, Moss had carded a 3-over 75 and an even par 72 to be in a tie for 57th.
During his last round, the senior carded a 10-over 82 with two double-bogeys and two triple-bogeys, which resulted in him falling 36 spots.
Arizona won the team competition at 20-under par, three strokes ahead of California. New Mexico’s Bastien Amat won the individual competition at 13-under, helping New Mexico finish in third place as a team.
SDSU’s next tournament will be in the Southern Highlands Collegiate at the Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas from Feb. 25-27.