As the men’s golf team prepares to tee off, let’s meet the 2024-25 squad. The team will look different this year, as long-time golfers Preston Bebich and Pono Yanagi have graduated, but it is full of exciting golfers ready to make an impact for the Cougs.
The longest-tenured member of the team is fifth-year senior Drayton Joseph. He competed in nine tournaments last year, a career-high, and compiled four top-25 finishes while scoring an average of 72.33 in the spring tournaments. He was a member of the 2023 team that finished a school-best third place at the Pac-12 Championships.
The team’s other elder statesman is transfer grad student Jakob Chicoyne. The Canadian-born golfer began his collegiate career at Simon Fraser University, located in Burnaby, British Columbia. He transferred in 2022 to Old Dominion, where he competed in 20 tournaments over the past two years. He racked up nine top-15 finishes and four top-10 finishes, capped by his 2022 third-place finish at the Virginia Commonwealth University shootout. WSU will be his third and final stop as a collegiate golfer.
Sam Renner returns for his third season as a Cougar and will look to continue making history for WSU. His career scoring average of 71.97 is currently the best in school history and he has played a crucial role in both the 2023 and 2024 team’s success.
In 2023, he posted the lowest score for any Coug in school history at the Pac-12 Championship (seven under par) helping the team place third. He followed that up at the National Golf Invitational tournament in May 2024, when Renner placed second overall, shooting a career-best fourteen under par and helping the Cougars to a first-place finish.
Renner’s latest feat was winning the Pacific Northwest Golf Association Amateur Championship on July 17. He spoke about his win with WSU Athletics.
“Winning an amateur event like this during the summer is a big confidence boost for me in regard to my golf game…I’m feeling good about where my game is at with only a month to go until we start prepping for our home event in September,” said Renner.
The final returning golfer is redshirt sophomore Ben Borgida. Borgida was also a part of the 2024 squad that captured first place in the NGI. He most recently finished third place in the Washington State Men’s Amateur Championship on July 15.
“This finish gives me a lot of confidence leading into the season,” said Borgida on his third-place finish. “I’m going to continue to be grateful that I have the opportunity to play in the summer and get ready for my next season for the Cougs.”
The team also welcomes an exciting group of freshmen to the Palouse. Tate Bruggerman comes from Edmonton, Canada. He won the 2023 Golf Canada Next Gen Fall Series West Championship and now brings his talents to Pullman.
Dylan Burcham comes to the Cougars from Valencia, California, where he made a name for himself by qualifying as a US Junior Amateur and finished 25th in a 256-player field. Garrett Harrison, also a California native, posted four top-25 finishes this summer on the American Junior Golf Association tour.
The team is coached by Dustin White, who is back for his ninth season as the head coach at his alma mater.
The Cougars begin their season on Sept 10 at Palouse Ridge Golf Club, where they will host the first tournament of the year, the Palouse Collegiate Invitational.
