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. 24 to Wednesday, Feb. 26. The three-day 54-hole tournament will be played at Rams Hill Golf Club in Borrego Springs. 

LAST TIME OUT

• The Cougars took second at their CSUSM Fujikura Invitational with a three-round total of 5-over 869 (283-290-296) on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at Shadowridge Golf Course.
• Jason McElroy was CSUSM's top golfer with a share of third place after carding a 2-under 214 (72-70-72). 

BATTLE IN THE DESERT

• This marks the third consecutive Battle in the Desert Tournament. 
• Florida Southern was the winning team in 2024 with a 3-over 867, beating second-place Georiga Southwestern by six strokes. 
• Cal State Monterey Bay's Simon Bjorken (211, -5) was the individual medalist after winning a playoff with Mateo Quiroga of Georgia Southwestern. 
• CSUSM was in a five-way tie for fifth place with a 21-over 885 as Arman Rahgozar was the Cougars' top golfer with a share of third place at 4-under 212. 

 
COUGAR OUTLOOK

• With nine returners from the 2023-24 team, this year's squad has only one new face with the addition of Owen Otto. 
• The 2023-24 team finished in the top 5 in seven of its 11 tournaments last year. 
• The Cougars saw last season come to an end with a 16th-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.
• Hutton has been named CCAA Coach of the Year a total of seven times, six times on the women's side and one time on the men's side. 
• The CSUSM men's golfer Matt Pennington was the program's first-ever CCAA Champion and NCAA West/South Central Regional Champion in 2022. 
• The CSUSM women's team was the 2019 NCAA Division II National Championship runner-up, led by National Champion Jaime Jacob.
• 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, 2023 and 2024. 
• 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.