SANTA CRUZ >> The 78th Western Intercollegiate, which runs Monday through Wednesday at iconic Pasatiempo Golf Club, features three golfers positioned in the top 50 in the NCAA Division I rankings. That total is down from seven a year ago.

That said, John Kennaday, the longtime head coach at tournament host San Jose State University, is confident that the prestigious, nationally televised event will be up to par.

“There’s a lot of good players in the tournament,” Kennaday said. “It’s a deep field. It might not be showing up in the rankings as much as you might like, but, trust me, there’s some sticks in this field. And, it’s going to be a great tournament.”

Kennaday’s event hype isn’t a sales pitch. Admission is free.

To Kennaday’s point, former Stanford star Michael Thorbjornsen was ranked No. 3 a year ago, but didn’t emerge with medalist honors in Santa Cruz. No, that honor went to Filip Jakubcik, a University of Arizona junior who is No. 76. He’s back to defend his title after firing a 4-under 206 total in 2024.

There’s plenty of talented and capable players who are poised to unseat Jakubcik as champ. Two of them — No. 238 Zubair Firdaus and No. 247 Keshav “KC” Mungali — play for SJSU.

In the fall, Firdaus shot a 23-under-par 190 total — one shot off of the lowest 54-hole score in NCAA history — to win medalist honors at the 15-team Alister Mackenzie Invitational. Mungali shot an 18-under 195 total for a tie for second place.

Firdaus, a senior, believes he can find success again.

“Definitely I’d put myself as a big contender out there,” he said. “Obviously, it’s our home course. I’ve played there, obviously, more than anyone in the field, and I like my chances. I’ve played well there in the past, and the course just kinda suits my game.”

Junior Jed Dy, winner of the Santa Cruz City Amateur in August, also competes for the Spartans.

Each team will feature six players in its lineup and count its top five scorers.

No. 25 Caden Fioroni of UNLV, No. 29 Justin Hastings of San Diego State, and No. 42 Zach Little of UNLV are the top players in the field.

Hastings, who earned an exemption into the Masters after winning the 2025 Latin America Championship in Buenos Aires, will return from hallowed ground in Augusta, Georgia, in time to compete at Pasatiempo, another Mackenzie-designed gem. He shot a 4-over 148 total and was projected to narrowly miss the cut.

Hastings tied for second at the ’24 Intercollegiate, one shot off of Jakubcik’s pace.

No. 42 Stanford, led by No. 131 Ratchanon Chantananuwat, No. 134 Jay Leng, and No. 143 Nathan Wang, returns to defend its team title, and No. 57 Cal, led by No. 156 Ziqin Zhou and No. 245 Wenliang Xie, will also be in the 14-team field.

No. 17 San Diego State is the top team competing, and followed closely by No. 19 Arizona, No. 22 Pepperdine, No. 26 UNLV, and No. 30 BYU.

BYU is coming off a fourth-place finish at The Goodwin, a 30-team event held at Stanford Golf Course on March 27-29. The Goodwin featured seven teams that are competing in the Intercollegiate.

No. 91 San José State took 21st at Stanford.

“Our team, we’ve struggled this spring,” Kennaday said. “We played very well in the fall. We set records; we shot 100 under par in the fall in four tournaments, which is phenomenal. But this spring, we haven’t quite cracked the code. And we’re getting closer, it seems, every tournament. We’re right about to bust loose and, one reason or another, it doesn’t happen.”

SJSU shot 56-under at the Meadow Club to take first at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in the fall. Considering Pasatiempo is also a MacKenzie design, the Spartans are hopeful.

“We’re hoping we crack loose,” Kennaday said. “We know what we’re capable of.”

Also entered is No. 36 Oregon, No. 67 Chattanooga, No. 103 Washington, No. 135 UC Irvine, and No. 182 Hawaii.

“They didn’t get off to the best of starts this year, but they’re starting to play some really good golf,” said Kennaday, of the contingent that previously competed in the Pac-12 Conference. “It should be very competitive.”

The Western Intercollegiate lost No. 1 Texas from a year ago, but made an interesting addition in Nihon University of Chiyoda City, Tokyo.

Nihon’s addition makes it the first Japanese school to compete in the Western in 34 years. Nittaidai, also known as Nippon Sport Science University, participated in the 37th Western Intercollegiate in 1983 and returned ’88, ’89, and ’91.

Moreover, SJSU competed at the Pan-Pacific Collegiate Championship in Hokkaido, Japan, in Sept. 5-7, 2023.

“The golf courses are beautiful, the people are amazing, and the country is phenomenal,” said Kennaday, of the experience. “Anything we can do to continue and grow the game is worthwhile.”

Nihon, led by Masato Sumiuchi and Taiga Kobayashi, competed in the Bridgestone Collegiate Invitational at Silverado Country Club & Resort in Napa on March 24-25 and placed fourth out of 14 teams with a 1-over 865 total.

“They can play,” Kennaday said. “They’ve always been able to play.”

Other top-100 ranked individuals entered include: No. 56 Zach Pollo (Arizona), No. 65 Mahanth Chirravuri (Pepperdine), No. 79 Peter Kim (BYU), No. 81 Aiden Krafft (Oregon), No. 93 Chanachon Chokprajakchat (SDSU), and No. 95 Greyson Leach (Oregon), and No. 96 Eric Doyle (Oregon).

Players will be challenged by long rough and firm and fast greens.

SJSU has played Pasatiempo four to five times since the club’s greens comlex restoration was completed in early December.

Prior to the restoration, course officials were limited to where they could place pins on the green. Kennaday said hole No. 8 had two viable pin placements prior to the restoration. “Now, I have nine,” he said.

The increase in pin placement options is course-wide.

“It’s exciting because we’re going to have a whole new set of pins for this tournament,” Kennaday said. “It’s also a little scary because we don’t know how it’s going to play just yet. But, the greens are immaculate. The restoration is just remarkable.”

A practice round and College-Am will be held Sunday morning. The collegians will watch the final round of the Masters together, and compete in a long drive competition following the completion of the Masters.