Golden Bears To Bring Talented Field To Lake Merced Golf Club In Spring 2026
BERKELEY – An elite field makes up the first-ever Desimone Invitational, a new tournament named after California’s former legendary men’s golf coach.
The inaugural event will take place March 9-10 at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City and features 15 teams – six of which qualified for last season’s NCAA Championship.
Desimone coached the Golden Bears for 37 years, taking over a program that had lost varsity status in 1979 and getting it reinstated as an NCAA sport. By the time he retired following the 2015-16 season, Cal had become a sustained power and Desimone was a larger-than-life pillar of college golf, in Berkeley and beyond.
“Coach Desimone challenged and motivated so many Cal men’s golfers to aim high and be great,” said Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men’s Golf Michael Wilson, who played for Desimone from 2002-06 and helped the Bears win the 2004 NCAA championship. “He had a profound impact on the lives of many, taking the program from a club sport to national prominence. Cal Golf simply is not what it is today without the work of Coach Desimon and the legacy he built. We are excited to host an elite field at Lake Merced Golf Club to honor him and hope those in the area can come watch the future stars of our sport.”
Included in the inaugural field are two teams that advanced to match play at the 2025 NCAA Championships – Texas and Arizona State, which finished in a tie for fifth. Pepperdine (12th), Wake Forest (15th), Cal (17th) and UCLA (20th) finished in the top 20 of last season’s NCAA field.
“I am deeply honored knowing that our Cal men’s golf invitational tournament is now named ‘The Desimone,'” Desimone said. “When the program was in its infancy, the idea of Cal hosting a major intercollegiate golf tournament wasn’t even an afterthought. As the program grew competitively over the years, the idea wasn’t so far-fetched. Having Cal’s invitational tournament now be called ‘The Desimone’ brings a huge smile to my face. I want to thank Lake Merced and old friend Doug Goldman for their support of the program and our great university. As I look to the future, I will say lots of fairways, greens and one-putts for the Blue and Gold.”
Four other teams in the Desimone field reached an NCAA regional in 2025 – Arizona, SMU, TCU and Utah. Loyola Marymount, San Jose…
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