20 Clubhouse Road
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
The Western Intercollegiate, hosted by San José State at beautiful Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif., has flourished since its inception as the Northern California Intercollegiate in 1947. The Alister MacKenzie designed course has been recognized as one of the top tracks west of the Mississippi since it opened in 1929. Even though MacKenzie also designed Augusta National and Cypress Point, Pasatiempo was his favorite layout and where he made his American home, which still borders the sixth fairway. Today, the 6,615-yard, par-70 course provides a great challenge for the nation’s top collegiate golfers year in and year out at the Western Intercollegiate.
Early fields of the Western were comprised of area junior colleges, business colleges and four-year schools. The 1950s brought growth until a gigantic field of 35 teams and 210 golfers descended upon Pasatiempo in 1962.
The Western became a prestigious invitational with a limit of 25 teams beginning in 1968. Since then, the strength of the field has grown, drawing teams from across the nation to Pasatiempo.
The Western has served as a springboard to the PGA Tour. The late-Bob Rosburg and Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller, Ron Cerrudo, John Lotz, Dave Stockton, Al Geiberger, Tom Watson, Roger Maltbie, Peter Jacobson, Bobby Clampett, Mark O’Meara, Duffy Waldorf, Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Arron Oberholser have gone on to play professionally after competing in the Western Intercollegiate during their college days.
The 50th Western Intercollegiate, held in 1996, became the first nationally televised in-season collegiate tournament. In a stunning manner, San José State’s Oberholser overtook Woods of Stanford on the final four holes for the individual title.
The GOLF Channel once again has made The Western Intercollegiate the only spring regular season NCAA golf tournament to be nationally televised. In 2019, the 73rd Western Intercollegiate aired on the GOLF Channel and viewers witnessed a thrilling five-hole playoff, with Stanford's Isaiah Salina topping San Jose State's Sean Yu for the championship.
