LA QUINTA, Calif. — When Ludvig Aberg won the RSM Classic on the PGA Tour last November, he became the latest golfer who has played in the Prestige at PGA West men’s college golf tournament to have success as a professional.
Aberg won the Prestige title three consecutive years, sharing the title in 2021 and winning solo titles in 2022 and 2023 as a member of the Texas Tech team. Aberg’s win meant he joined names like Viktor Hovland, Sam Burns, Jhonattan Vegas, two-time major winner Jon Rahm and reigning U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark as golfers who first played in the desert at the Prestige before winning on the PGA Tour.
That’s a record that tournament founder Mark Weissmann is proud of. And it’s one reason the tournament continues to feature a large field of 24 teams in the event, to be played Monday through Wednesday at the Norman Course at PGA West in La Quinta.
“Our coaches feel like normally we have the best weather in the world this time of year, and there is so much interest in great teams to come out,” Weissmann said. “So why not welcome them.”
Those 24 teams of five players each will be joined by 60 individual golfers playing Monday through Wednesday at Terra Lago Golf Resort in Indio for the 24th Prestige tournament.
This year’s event will again include some of the higher-ranked teams in the country, including four teams in the top 25 in the NCAA rankings, Washington (7th), Oregon (18th), Texas Tech (22nd) and Duke (23rd). The tournament is again hosted by UC Davis and Stanford, and features other teams like UCLA, San Francisco, Northwestern, Princeton, Chattanooga, SMU, Colorado State, Cal Poly, Loyola Marymount, Kansas State, Oregon State, Iowa State, San Diego, Baylor, Louisville, Kansas and Nevada.
In the individual competition, which features 60 golfers including additional players from competing teams as well as players from schools not in the main 24-team field like Auburn, Tennessee and Division II Hawaii-Hilo, golfers play strictly for an individual title with no team competition.
Reasons to return to the desert
While teams rotate in and out of the Prestige field at times – defending champion Pepperdine is not in the event this year, for instance – Weissmann said the appeal of the tournament is what brings so many teams back year after year.
“It’s a great golf course, great weather and being in a top environment playing against other top teams,” Weissmann said. “That’s what I think…
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