PULLMAN, Wash. – Fresh faces shined for the Washington State men's golf team in 2019-20, as the Cougars set the foundation for the future during an abbreviated season with the NCAA cancelling play in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2019-20 season was a new beginning of sorts for the Cougars, with head coach Dustin White welcoming in four freshmen to the Palouse. The new Cougs shined in their first season in Pullman, as the quarter of Yuya Eguchi, Clayton Thatcher, Tianyu Wu and Christian Yanagi made up for nearly 50% of the team's scoring for the year and provided many highlights along the way.

"We recruited these freshmen to come in and make a contribution right away," expressed White. "The fact that all four – were in the lineup – speaks volumes to where they are with their golf and where we are as a program."

Yanagi led the charge of fresh faces for Washington State. The Hilo, Hawai'i native posted the highest per-round scoring average out of the four freshmen at 74.65 through 20 rounds. Yanagi posted the team's best individual finish at the John Burns Intercollegiate (Feb. 21-23) and collected a top-25 finish at the Pacific Invitational (Oct. 21-23), ending in a career-best 22nd. Yanagi's first round score of 68 at the Pacific Invitational was a career-low, and tied him with seniors Nicklaus Chiam and Daniel Kolar for the team's lowest individual round of the season.

Eguchi, a native of Chiba, Japan, followed Yanagi with a scoring average of 75.00 per round, which was fourth-best for the Cougs. He also shot par in three of his 15 rounds during the season and has his score count in 11 rounds. Wu, who came to Pullman from Beijing, China, posted a score for WSU in 13 of his rounds during his true freshman season. While Thatcher, a Tacoma, Washington native, scored in five of his 11 rounds played.

"The freshmen class in general has played well, contributed and learned a lot about college golf and themselves," said White of the newcomers. "The future looks bright with them. They got a lot of experience this season and we're excited about where they are heading."

WSU participated in seven of its scheduled 10 events in 2019-20. The Cougars were hitting their stride just before the NCAA canceled the spring sports season. Washington State ended the 2019-20 campaign by collecting its best finish of the season, placing 11th at the Bandon Dunes Championship (March 8-10) in Bandon, Oregon.

"We were progressing nicely," said coach White. "Our message to the team was that 'You're 2/3's of the way there.' Two out of the three rounds (during a tournament) were generally good, but then we would hit a stretch within a round where things got away from us."

White stated that both the coaching staff and the golfers were sensing that they were on the verge of putting together a complete tournament. White stressed to his team that they were getting better each week, with his message to the Cougs being not to focus on the results, rather on the strides being made each week.

The growth made by the Cougars was evident as the season progressed. Washington State improved its team score in four of its final five tournaments of the 2019-20 campaign and closed out the campaign by carding a season-best 873 (+21) at the Bandon Dunes Championship.

"Everybody was doing their part and there was a great energy from the team," said the Cougar's head coach. "We were excited about the rest of the season, but that will have to wait."

Seniors Nicklaus Chiam and Daniel Kolar were the top duo for the Cougars during the 2019-20 campaign, as both shot under-par in a team-best four rounds and finished 1-2 in team scoring average. Kolar had his score count in a team-best 18 rounds, while Chiam followed behind with 14 counted rounds.

"Those two are what you look for in seniors as a coach," White expressed. "You want leadership from seniors and they recognized from the start that this year was going to be more about the leadership, the unity and the culture. They took that role on and did a nice job."

Kolar collected the team's best individual finish of the season, opening the year by tying for fifth at the Husky Invitational, carding 139 (-5) in the 36-hole tournament. Meanwhile, Chiam tallied a team-best three top-15 finishes in 2019-20. His best finish came at the Bandon Dunes Championship, where he tied for 12th carding 213 (E) in what became the final tournament of the season.

"They saw their senior seasons ending much differently and it remains to be seen what the future holds for them," stated White. "Nonetheless, we've enjoyed having them and they've done a really great job both in the classroom and on the golf course."

Despite the shortened spring slate, Washington State was still able to take steps towards growing the program in 2019-20. The experience gained this season will pay dividends moving forward as Coach White and the Cougars begin to look towards 2020-21.

"There are a lot of good things to take out of this season. We played a diverse schedule that featured some new tournaments for us. It was good to get everyone out of their comfort zone and get comfortable with being uncomfortable. We have some guys now that have more experience and we have a really good schedule coming up. At this point in time, all we can do is continue to do everything we can with these guys to keep them motivated and ready."