The California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) men’s golf Titans are hoping to build on a relatively successful 2024-25 season in which they finished second at The Big West Championship and earned three All-Conference awards. Head Coach Jason Drotter is back for his 17th season, but there have been some roster changes, including the addition of freshmen Chase Yukawa and Lance Nguyen and University of Rochester transfer Shibo Wang.
The Titans began the four-tournament fall slate of their 2025-26 schedule at Colorado State University’s Ram Masters Invitational, held September 11-12 at Fort Collins Country Club. Their fall schedule also includes the Mark Simpson Colorado Invite (University of Colorado), Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational (University of the Pacific), and Oregon State Invitational (Oregon State). The team takes a break during the winter and returns for the spring season with the Bill Cullum Invitational (CSU Northridge) in February.
Here’s a look at how the Titans did in their first tournament of the 2025-26 season.
13th Place Finish
The Titans finished 13th in the 16-team Ram Masters Invitational, scoring a combined 49-over par in the three-round competition. They were six shots back of UC Santa Barbara for 12th place and nine shots ahead of rival CSU Northridge, which finished 14th. The Titans salvaged a poor start in round one, shooting a 6-over par in the second round after being tied for last place to begin the round. That was the sixth-best score in round two. They were unable to sustain that momentum, shooting 21-over par in the final round.
Giacomo Comerio, a senior from Italy and an All-Conference Honorable Mention last year in his first season with CSUF, led the team in Fort Collins with a three-round score of 6-over par, including a team-best 1-over in the final round. He had five birdies, including one on the 580-yard, par-5 15th hole, the longest on the course. Comerio finished 26th in the individual standings.
Sophomore Nicky Benton was second among Titans players and 36th overall at 9-over (77-70-72). He had four birdies in a nine-hole stretch during the final round. Dante Lazare finished tied for 66th at 16-over par, but his second round score of 70 tied him with Benton for the low round among CSUF players. Nguyen and Will Tanaka shared 88th place at 24-over par.
Long Beach State Claims Title
Long Beach State (LBS) overcame the host Colorado State Rams in the final round to claim the Ram Masters Invitational team title. The Rams were at even par after team scores of 2-under and 2-over par in the first two rounds, while LBS was one shot back at 1-over following rounds of 3-over and 2-under par. Led by senior Alejandro de Castro, LBS shot a combined 1-under par in the final round, while the Rams were 2-over. LBS was the only team to finish the tournament at par or better.
De Castro shot a team-best 6-under par during the final round, improving his individual result to third place. He had birdies on four of the last five holes, recording a 32 on the par-35 back nine. He also shot 32 on the front nine.
UC San Diego’s Davis McDowell won the individual title with a score of 6-under, while Colorado State’s Alessandro Trenta finished second at 5-under.
CSUF Past Results in Colorado
The Titans have started their season in Colorado for several years in a row and have typically finished higher than their 13th-place result in 2025. In 2024, they finished sixth in the 16-team tournament. Lazare, one of only two players who participated that is still with the program in 2025-26, led all Titans at 3-under and finished tied for 10th. In 2023, CSUF finished third out of 13 teams in the season-opening Ram Masters Invitational.
The Titans finished in second place with a score of 6-under par at the 2022 Ram Masters Invitational, but were 12th the year prior. They also finished third in 2019.
Looking Ahead to the Rest of the Season
Despite the disappointing finish in their first tournament, there is plenty of time for the Titans to turn things around—and for its younger players to gain more experience and confidence.
“We have many new faces on our team, which brings a high level of excitement as well as the usual concerns a coach might have when moving forward with a lack of experience,” Coach Drotter said before the start of the season. “I’m excited to see how our new players perform at this level and how our returners build on the momentum we had toward the end of the 2024–25 year.”
After resuming their season in February at the Bill Cullum Invitational, the Titans play in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate (University of Wyoming), The Watney Invitational (Fresno State University), The Duck Invite (University of Oregon), Wyoming Cowboy Classic (University of Wyoming), and El Macero Classic (UC Davis). The Big West Championship is scheduled for May 3-5, 2026, in La Quinta, California.