College clash

Some of the country's top college golfers will compete at the PGA WEST Greg Norman Course.

Top schools in the country set to compete at PGA WEST in The Prestige

One of the top college golf events in the country, The Prestige presented by Charles Schwab returns to the PGA WEST Greg Norman Course February 13-14 for its 21st year.

The annual men’s golf tournament will feature 24 teams, including nine from California – UC Davis, Stanford, Cal, Cal Poly, Long Beach State, Pepperdine, San Diego State, USC and UCLA. Three of the top-10 teams in the Bushnell Golfweek coaches’ poll through mid January are scheduled to attend, including No. 1 Pepperdine, No. 9 Texas Tech and No. 10 Arizona State.

​Brian Hughes, the PGA Clubhouse Manager and Head Golf Professional at the Greg Norman Course at PGA WEST, said the quality of the competition has been strong since the event first started, and The Prestige has steadily bolstered its reputation as one of the best college tournaments in the country.

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“The vision that Mark Weissmann, Cy Williams and Conrad Ray had from the start of this event was to make it a top collegiate event in the country, and they have achieved that by inviting the top teams to come here and compete in our perfect desert weather and at a world-class golf course here at PGA WEST,” Hughes said.

Weissmann founded The Prestige, Ray is the head men’s golf coach at Stanford, and Williams is the head men’s golf coach at UC Davis, which is the official host school of the event.

“The Prestige offers a chance for teams to travel to one of the premier golf destinations in the world at a time of year with great weather, and the strength of field attract the best teams,” Williams said, adding that the George Roberts family has been a supportive sponsor for many years.

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Some of the past competitors in The Prestige include PGA Tour players such as Jon Rahm.

While the event’s defending team champion, Texas, will not be back this year due to travel restrictions, last year’s individual winner, Leo Oyo, is expected to return, although he’ll be wearing new colors after having transferred from San Diego State to Oklahoma State.
 
The Prestige has been held at PGA WEST for the last 17 years, and the list of tournament alumni who have gone on to successful PGA TOUR careers is astounding. Among those have been Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Gary Woodland, Brandt Snedeker, Viktor Hovland, Matthew Wolff, Jhonnatan Vegas, Luke Donald and many more. College golf fans can keep an eye on the leaderboard during this year’s event at www.prestgigepgawest.com. 
 
“Having the best collegiate players here is awesome for our facility, and we are honored to be a part of this event,” Hughes said. “We change the par of the course to 71 by making the second hole a par 4 instead of a par 5 and moving the tees forward a bit. Other than that, we don’t do anything different in regards to setup than we do for our members and guests. The course plays difficult for the best collegiate players in the country.”

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