CHANDLER, Ariz. — Bolstered by three top-10 individual finishes, the San Diego State men’s golf team defended its Wyoming Cowboy Classic title Tuesday by breaking its own tournament-record and finishing at 39-under-par 825 at the par-72, 7,334-yard Whirlwind Golf Club.
Leading after each of the first two rounds, the Aztecs extended their advantage in today’s final 18 holes with a 17-under 271, the lowest round of the tournament in the 25-team field. SDSU easily captured the classic with runner-up Long Beach State 13 strokes back at 26-under 838. Mountain West schools Colorado State (-23), Nevada (-23), UNLV (-18) and Fresno State (-14) finished third through sixth, respectively. San Diego State won the 2021 Wyoming Cowboy Classic at 33-under.
Zihao Jin (Beijing/Rancho Bernardo HS) and Steve Sugimoto (San Diego/Rancho Bernardo) each tied for second out of 128 golfers at 12-under 204, one shot behind Long Beach State’s Isaac Rodea (-13) for medalist honors. Puwit Anupansuebsai (Nakhon Phanom, Thailand) finished solo 10th at 9-under 207 for the Aztecs, who led the field in par-3 scoring (2.92) and par-5 scoring (4.57), and were second in par-4 scoring (3.97).
Jin and Sugimoto each shot matching 6-under 66s on the final day with only two golfers better on the day (both had 65s). Jin had six birdies on Tuesday and an eagle on the par-5, 611-yard 12th hole against just two bogeys. For the tournament, Jin was at 9-under on par-5s, leading the field with a 4.25 average. His 204 was a collegiate low for 54 holes.
Sugimoto, meanwhile, sank seven birdies in the final round, including all four par-5s with a lone bogey on the par-4, 481-yard 11th. Sugimoto finished with 18 birdies for the tournament, the most in the field, while ranking second in par-3 scoring at 4-under (2.67 avg.). Sugimoto’s 204 was also a collegiate low.
Anupansuebsai carded a 2-under 70 in the final round today, including an eagle on the par-5, 567-yard second. The three-time all-Mountain West selection also notched two birdies against two bogeys.
Youssef Guezzale (San Diego/La Jolla HS) bounced back from a second-round 76 with a 3-under 69 today to finish at 2-under 214. Guezzale moved up 25 spots on the final day to tie for 26th. He reached 5-under with his fifth birdie of the day on the par-4, 402-yard eighth, but had back-to-back bogeys over his final two holes on the par-3, 245-yard 10th and No. 11, to settle for a 69.
Justin Hastings (Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands) tied for 40th in his first career start at even-par 216 following a 1-over 73 today. Hastings finished with three birdies, two bogeys and a double bogey on No. 2.
San Diego State next competes April 11-13 in the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, California.
Wyoming Cowboy Classic
Cattail Course at Whirlwind Golf Club – Chandler, Ariz.
Par 72, 7,334 yards
Day Two Results (Round 3)
Team Standings (Top 5 of 25)
1. San Diego State…272-282-271—825 (-39) (breaks own tournament record by six strokes)
2. Long Beach State…283-278-277—838 (-26)
T3. Colorado State…289-277-275—841 (-23)
T3. No. 38 Nevada…285-279-277—841 (-23)
5. UNLV…282-284-280—846 (-18)
Individual Leaders (Top 5 of 128 players + SDSU)
1. Isaac Rodea (Long Beach State)…65-69-69—203 (-13)
T2. Zihao Jin (San Diego State)…68-70-66—204 (-12)
T2. Steve Sugimoto (San Diego State)…67-71-66—204 (-12)
T2. Connor Jones (Colorado State)…67-70-67—204 (-12)
T5. Riley Lewis (Loyola Marymount)…72-64-69—205 (-11)
T5. Lachlan Barker (Iowa State)…68-68-69—205 (-11)
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10. Puwit Anupansuebsai (San Diego State)…68-69-70—207 (-9)
T27. Youssef Guzzale (San Diego State)…69-76-69—214 (-2)
T41. Justin Hastings (San Diego State)…71-72-73—216 (E)