The San Diego State University men’s golf team is set to compete in the Southern Highlands Collegiate, beginning Sunday in Las Vegas. The event, which will be held over three days at the par-72, 7,510-yard Southern Highlands Golf Club, includes 15 teams ranked within the top 50 nationally.
The Aztecs are currently ranked No. 25 in the NCAA computer rankings as of February 25. The field features leading programs such as No. 1 Virginia, No. 2 Auburn, and No. 3 Florida, among others.
San Diego State’s opening round begins at 9:20 a.m. PT on Sunday from the 10th hole, grouped with Texas A&M and UCLA.
In their most recent tournament at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate in Hawai’i (February 12-14), SDSU finished tenth out of nineteen teams with a score of 11-over-par 851. Several team members were affected by illness during that event, resulting in their lowest finish this season after earlier runner-up results at both the Marquette Intercollegiate and Southwestern Invitational.
Sophomore Harry Takis has continued his strong performance this season by securing second place at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate with a score of seven-under-par (203) on the par-70 Ocean Course. Over his last eight collegiate tournaments dating back to last season, Takis has achieved four runner-up finishes and one victory. This year alone he tied for second at the Sahalee Players Championship (-2), won the Southwestern Invitational (-7), and again placed second at John A. Burns Intercollegiate (-7).
Takis holds the top spot nationally in individual NCAA computer rankings and carries a scoring average of 68.89 through three events and nine rounds this season. Other highly ranked individuals expected to participate include Jackson Koivun (Auburn), Ben James (Virginia), Mahanth Chirravuri (Pepperdine), Bryan Lee (Virginia), Brady Siravo (Pepperdine), Luke Potter (Texas), Jase Summy (Oklahoma), Josiah Gilbert (Auburn) and Willy Walsh (Pepperdine).
Other scoring leaders for SDSU include seniors Tyler Kowack and Chanachon Chokprajakchat, sophomore Kai Hirayama, juniors Nathan Sampson, Dylan Oyama and Phillip Kench.
Takis will lead SDSU’s lineup in Las Vegas along with Hirayama, Kowack, Chokprajakchat and Oyama.
This marks SDSU’s fourth consecutive appearance at the Southern Highlands Collegiate; they placed sixth in 2024 (+7), eleventh last year (+29) and thirteenth in 2023 (+9). Takis tied for forty-seventh last year while teammates Kowack and Chokprajakchat have also competed multiple times previously at this event.
SDSU’s previous history includes participating in the tournament in both 2017—where they finished fifteenth—and October 2006 when they won both individual and team titles at Angel Park Golf Club’s Mountain Course.
Last year’s individual title went to UNLV’s Caden Fiorini while Auburn captured the team championship as the only squad under par.
After this tournament concludes, San Diego State will host its only home event of the season—the R.E. Lamkin Invitational—scheduled for March 9-10 at San Diego Country Club in Chula Vista.
