SAN MARCOS, Calif. –  The Cal State San Marcos men's golf team will compete in the Battle in the Desert hosted by Cal State San Bernardino on Monday, Feb. 26 to Wednesday, Feb. 28. The three-day 54-hole tournament will be played at Rams Hill Golf Club in Borrego Springs. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cougars took fifth at their CSUSM Fujikura Invitational with a three-round total of 4-over 868 on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at Shadowridge Golf Course.
• Greg Mouser finished tied for first with Stanislaus State's Chris Chomyn after both guys finished with a 7-under 209. Chomyn won the playoff with a birdie on hole one after Mouser earned a par. 
• Mouser was named CCAA Co-Golfer of the Week with Chomyn. 

BATTLE IN THE DESERT

• This marks the second consecutive Battle in the Desert Tournament. 
• Cal State East Bay was the winning team in 2023 with a 4-over 868, beating second-place Cal State San Bernardino by one stroke. 
• Cal State San Bernardino's John Kim was the individual medalist with a 6-under 210. 
• CSUSM placed sixth with a 17-over 881 as John McElroy was the Cougars' top golfer with a share of seventh place at 1-over-217. 

COUGAR OUTLOOK

• With five returners from the 2022-23 team, this year's squad has three new faces with the addition of Aiden Canada, Gavin McCormick and Nick Mouser. 
• The 2022-23 team won five tournaments last season, including making program history with a CCAA Championship Tournament victory. 
• The Cougars saw last season come to an end with an 18th-place finish in the NCAA West/South Central Regional Championship. 

THE HUTTON FILE

• Head coach Greg Hutton has been at the helm of the men's program since the 2010-11 season and was named the women's head coach in 2014.
• In his 13 years as the Cougar men's coach and nine years as the Cougar women's coach, Hutton has led CSUSM to 56 tournament victories (32 women/24 men). 
• The CSUSM women's team was the 2019 NCAA Division II National Championship runner-up, led by National Champion Jaime Jacob.
• The CSUSM men's golfer Matt Pennington was the program's first-ever CCAA Champion and NCAA West/South Central Regional Champion in 2022. 
• In 2023, the CSUSM men's team captured its first-ever CCAA Championship Tournament Title, defeating runner-up Cal State Monterey by one stroke on April 19 at the Victory Club in Riverside. 
• Under Hutton's leadership, the women's team won CSUSM's first CCAA Championship in school history in 2018 and the Cougars defended their title in 2019, 2022 and 2023. 
• In CSUSM's first year of being a full-fledged NCAA Division II member in 2017-18, the Cougar men's and women's golf teams each qualified for the NCAA Regional Championships.