NOW PLAYING: The 76th Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo

April 10, 2023 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Power-packed field heads to Pasatiempo for the 76th playing of one of college golf's tradition-laced events

If college golf designated a few regular-season tournaments as majors, the Western Intercollegiate would be vie for the top spot on that list.

The 76th playing of the Western Intercollegiate gets underway on Monday at Pasatiempo Golf Club, an Alister Mackenzie-designed gem located in Santa Cruz, Calif. Hosted annually by San Jose State, this year's field includes teams from Arizona, BYU, California, Colorado State, Hawaii, Oregon, Pepperdine, San Diego State, Stanford, UC Irvine, UNLV, USC and Washington.

Listed 10th in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, Stanford is the highest-rated team in the field followed by Pepperdine (No. 11), Arizona (No. 16) and Oregon (No. 24).

There's no shortage of individual star power, either. Stanford's Michael Thorbjornsen is ranked second behind Texas Tech's Ludvig Aberg in Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com world rankings, while Pepperdine's William Mouw (No. 16), Derek Hitchner (No. 21) and Sam Choi (No. 21) are also listed in the top-25.

Colorado State's Rasmus Hjelm and BYU's Carson Lundell were both in the title chase last year before finishing just three back of medalist Dylan Menante, then of Pepperdine. Lundell was also finished second in 2021, losing in a playoff to Pepperdine's Joe Highsmith.

Continuing with its commitment to collegiate golf, Golf Channel will provide three hours of daily live coverage beginning at 4:00 p.m. PT on Monday and Tuesday with Wednesday’s final round coverage beginning at 1:00 p.m. PT.

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Golf Channel's Broadcast Schedule
Monday, April 10 • 4:00-7:00 p.m. PT
Tuesday, April 11 • 4:00-7:00 PT
Wednesday, April 12 • 1:00-4:00 p.m. PT

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Unique Format
The Western Intercollegiate is the last regular-season event for many teams in the field and features a unique, play-six-count-five format. Two team members per group will be paired together.

The History
First played in 1947, the Western Intercollegiate is one of the longest-running tournaments in collegiate golf. Major champions Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller and Mark O’Meara have claimed individual titles, as have former PGA TOUR players Jerry Heard, Howard Twitty, Peter Jacobson, Mark Lye, Bobby Clampett, Jay Don Blake, Duffy Waldorf and Arron Oberholser, along with current Tour stars Patrick Rogers, Maverick McNealy and Scottie Scheffler.

2015 champion Scottie Scheffler

Though he has a closet full of Green Jackets, the coveted Blue Jacket that is awarded to the winner of the Western eluded Stanford product Tiger Woods, who was outdueled by Oberholser in 1996 when the San Jose State junior made two back nine eagles en route to a final round 64 and medalist honors. Three-time major champion Jordan Spieth also came up short in his in his only visit to Pasatiempo in 2012 as a member of the Texas Longhorns.

However, another Longhorn, Scottie Scheffler, earned a Blue Jacket for his victory at the 2015 Western Intercollegiate when he shot rounds of 66-68-67 to win the individual title by three strokes over California's Shotaro Ban. Ironically, Scheffler's win came on the same day another Spieth won The Masters. Seven years later, Scheffler would add a Green Jacket to his closet after winning the 2022 Masters.

As of data gathered on March 13, 2023, there are 94 alumni who participated in the Western Intercollegiate and later won on the PGA Tour. Altogether, these alumni have tallied 550 PGA Tour wins — 50 of which were Major championships.

San Jose State has won a tournament-best 12 Western Intercollegiate championships.

A Look Back at Last Year
The Texas Longhorns edged Pepperdine by a single stroke to win the 75th Western Intercollegiate while Dylan Menante, then of Pepperdine, claimed the individual title by three shots over Carson Lundell of BYU, Pierceson Coody of Texas and Rasmus Hjelm of Colorado State. Texas rode the momentum of its win at Pasatiempo all the way to the national championship a month later at Grayhawk.

About Pasatiempo
While the teams and players have come and gone over the years, the one constant link to the Western has been the venue, Pastatiempo Golf Club. Nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains overlooking the nearby Monterey Bay, renowned architect Alister MacKenzie considered Pastatiempo his favorite layout, ahead of Augusta National, Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne. A lengthy restoration project which was headed up by Tom Doak returned many of MacKenzie’s original features to the course, which opened for play in 1929 with a mixed exhibition between Marion Hollins, Bobby Jones, Glenna Collett and Cyril Tolley. MacKenzie’s home still stands adjacent to the sixth fairway and upon his passing in 1934, his ashes were scattered throughout the course, making Pasatiempo one of the unique spiritual meccas in all of golf.

Results: Western Intercollegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Derek Hitchner	Minneapolis, MN	700	68-64-71=203
T2	Yuki Moriyama	Las Vegas, NV	500	68-67-69=204
T2	Owen Avrit	Arroyo Grande, CA	500	65-66-73=204
4	Sam Choi	Anaheim, CA	400	66-65-74=205
5	Sampson Zheng	, China	400	66-70-70=206

View full results for Western Intercollegiate

About the Western Intercollegiate

NOW PLAYING: The 76th Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo

54-hole men's college tournament hosted by San Jose State University. “The Western” is one of the most highly recognized national collegiate tournaments, conducted since 1946 Pasatiempo Golf Club; a historic venue where a player’s talent is always we...