The Mustangs vie for glory at PGA West with two top-25 talents.
SMU men’s golf is back on the road, and this week’s destination offers both sunshine and serious competition.
The Mustangs continue their spring season at The Prestige, hosted by UC Davis at PGA West’s Norman Course in La Quinta, California.
The three-day tournament, running Feb. 16-18, features a loaded 24-team field that includes nine programs ranked inside the Top 50 and 18 within the Top 100.
SMU enters the event ranked among that Top 100 group and brings plenty of firepower to the desert.
Leading the charge is Will Sides, who has been one of the most consistent players in college golf. Sides carries a team-best 69.80 scoring average and is coming off a victory at the prestigious Jones Cup during the winter season.
That win adds to back-to-back Stephens Cup titles in 2024 and 2025, making him the first Mustang in decades to repeat as champion at the same tournament in consecutive years.
Sides also sits No. 12 in the PGA Tour University rankings, climbing from No. 15 to start the year.
Teammate Zachary Kingsland checks in at No. 24, giving SMU two players inside the Top 25 nationally. Only a handful of programs - including Texas, Ole Miss, Arizona, and Virginia - can match that distinction.
Historically, Sides and Kingsland are already etching their names among SMU greats.
Sides ranks third in program history in career scoring average (71.36), while Kingsland sits fifth at 71.64. Those numbers place them in elite company alongside names like Bryson DeChambeau and Noah Goodwin.
The lineup in La Quinta will feature Sides, Kingsland, Gabe Post, Ben Steinmann, and Mason Lewis, with Areen Aggarwal and Andrew Petruzzelli competing as individuals.
SMU last competed at The Prestige in 2024, finishing seventh out of 24 teams.
Sides placed 17th in that appearance, while Aggarwal impressed with a fourth-place finish in the concurrent individual event.
The Mustangs are looking to bounce back after a 10th-place showing at the Southwestern Invitational, where Sides and Post led the way. Post tied for 17th, matching his best finish since joining the program.
With past team titles at events like the Trinity Forest Invitational and Vaqueros Intercollegiate, plus NCAA Regional experience last season, SMU has proven it can contend on big stages.
The challenge this week is steep, but with proven winners at the top of the lineup, the Mustangs arrive at PGA West ready to compete.