In their final event before defending its Mountain West title, the San Diego State men’s golf team placed seventh as a team in the 77th annual Western Intercollegiate held at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz.
Ten of the 14 schools in the tournament rank inside the top 50 in the nation; No. 34 SDSU was able to place higher than No. 41 BYU, No. 42 Chattanooga and No. 50 UNLV.
The Aztecs were led by junior Justin Hastings, who finished in a tie for second place out of 96 golfers. In his first round, Hastings shot a 1-over par 71 with two bogeys and one birdie. In the second round, the junior started 4-over through his first seven holes before recording four birdies to finish at even par.
Hastings continued his hot play into the final round, where he recorded six birdies and two bogeys to card a 4-under 66, jumping 15 spots on the leaderboard to finish in a tie for second.
Finishing one stroke behind him was sophomore Pol (Chanachon) Chokprajakchat, who finished in a tie for fourth place. In his first round, Chokprajakchat shot an even-par 70 with four bogeys and four birdies. In his second round, the sophomore was 3-over through his first seven holes before recording six birdies and two more bogeys to finish at 1-under for the round.
In his final round, after recording three birdies, four bogeys and an eagle, Chokprajakchat was able to scramble his way toward a 1-under 69 and finish in a tie for fourth place.
Sophomore Tyler Kowack came in third for the Aztecs in a tie for 57th place at 11-over for the tournament.
In his first round, Kowack shot an 11-over 81 with two birdies, three bogeys, two double-bogeys and a quadruple bogey. The sophomore bounced back in his second round with five birdies and two bogeys to card a 3-under 67.
In his final round, Kowack carded a 3-over 73 with four bogeys, three birdies and a double-bogey.
Senior Jackson Moss and junior Shea Lague were tied for fourth place for the Aztecs, who finished in a tie for 61st place at 12-over.
Moss started the tournament with a 3-over 73 that included three bogeys, two birdies and a double-bogey. Moss carded a 6-over 76 in the second round with five bogeys, three birdies and two double-bogeys. In his final round, the senior carded another 3-over 73 with three birdies, two bogeys and two double-bogeys.
Lague started his first round with a 5-over 75 that included five bogeys, two birdies and a double bogey. In his second round, Lague carded a 3-over 73 with three bogeys, two birdies and a double-bogey. In his final round, Lague carded a 4-over 74 with seven bogeys, an eagle and a birdie.
Rounding out the lineup for the Aztecs was senior Skyler Ngo, who finished in a tie for 72nd place at 15-over.
Ngo started the tournament with a bang, carding a 1-over 71 that included three birdies, two bogeys and a double-bogey. In his second round, Ngo remained steady with a 4-over 74 that included four bogeys, three birdies and a triple bogey.
Ngo couldn’t keep up the momentum, carding a 10-over 80 with five bogeys, three double-bogeys and a birdie to finish at 15-over for the tournament.
Stanford captured its 12th Western Intercollegiate victory, beating out Washington by five strokes and California by six strokes to finish at 8-over. Arizona’s Flilip Jakubcik won the individual competition at 4-under.
The Aztecs’ next event will be the Mountain West Championship, where they will look to win their third straight title at the Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Washington, from April 26–28.
