A Cougar through and through, Dustin White returned to his alma mater as an assistant coach in the January of 2014 and was named the Washington State men’s golf head coach prior to the 2016-17 season.
The Cougars ended the 2023-24 season with a bang, winning their first-ever postseason tournament at the 2024 National Golf Invitational at AK-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Arizona. There, they shot a program-best 41-under for a 3-round score of 823, good for second lowest in WSU Men’s Golf history.
WSU has now seen postseason play in back-to-back years for the first time in program history, having also earned a bid to the NGI in 2023 where the team tied for sixth after shooting 3-over, 867 as a team. There had only been one other time in program history that WSU has played in a postseason tournament, dating back to the 2002 NCAA West Regional.
Along with an NGI Championship, the 2023-24 season also saw Preston Bebich (71.15) and Sam Renner (71.19) post the lowest single-season scoring averages in school history, while Bebich was also named 2024 Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year, and 2024 All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention.
Pono Yanagi posted what is now the fourth-lowest single season scoring average in program history at 71.54. Yanagi finished tied for first at the Golfweek Fall Challenge with a school record score to par of 17-under, for a 199 54-hole score as the team finishes second at 46-under, 818.
Washington State finished in second place at the Oregon State Invitational with two golfers inside the top-10 with Renner tied for sixth and Bebich tied for ninth. Then the team followed that up with a 28-under, 836 performance the following week, placing tied for third at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational as Bebich tied for second and Sam Renner tied for sixth. In the fall, the Cougs saw their highest finish come at the GCU Invitational where they placed third at 10-under, 842 as a team where Renner tied for eighth and Bebich tied for 10th.
WSU opened the 2022-23 season by collecting the first team win in Western Washington in program history. They captured the team championship at the 2022 Husky Invitational at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Washington. WSU had two golfers finish inside the top five at the Husky Invitational. Jaden Canatafio, who sank the tournament-clinching putt on the 18, finished tied for third and Pono Yanagi tied for third.
The 2022-23 season also saw the Cougars post their best finish at a Pac-12 Championship, as Washington State ended the 2023 Pac-12 Men’s Golf Championship in a tie for third. The Cougars shot a school-record 5-under; 1395 at the 2023 Pac-12 Championship and posted the best single-round score for the program at the Pac-12s, as WSU opened the tournament by posting a team score of 344. Senior Pono Yanagi set the school record for the best finish by a Coug at the Pac-12s, as he finished third overall after carding 12-under; 268. Yanagi’s four-round score at the 2023 Pac-12 Championship is a school record for the lowest single-round score by a Coug at the Pac-12s. Freshman Sam Renner became the first WSU golfer in program history to post the best freshman finish at a Pac-12 Championship, as he finished in a tie for eighth overall with a four-round score of 4-under; 276.
Pono Yanagi and Sam Renner both earned All-Pac-12 honors during the 2022-23 season. Yanagi earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention honors for the first time in his career, while Renner was named to the All-Pac-12 freshman honorable mention team.
Washington State had one of its most successful seasons in program history during the 2021-22 season, as the Cougars set the single-season team scoring average mark at 288.17. Redshirt senior Max Sekulic capped off a successful WSU career by earning an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection, making him the first Cougar to earn all-conference honors since the 2017-18 season. Sekulic set WSU’s single-season scoring average record in 2021-22, finishing the season with a stroke average of 71.29. The Rycroft, Alberta native set the program’s 18-hole (62; -9) and 54-hole (197; 16) records en route to his first collegiate victory at the Visit Stockton Invitational. The Cougars improved their GolfStat team ranking by eight spots in 2021-22, finishing the year ranked No. 90 to finish inside the top-100 nationally for the second-straight season. Sekulic, Preston Bebich, Yuya Eguchi, and Tianyu Wu were each selected to the 2022 Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll.
The Cougars were limited to only six spring tournaments during the 2020-21 season, as the NCAA canceled fall competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington State posted a pair of top-10 team finishes in the spring. The Cougs opened the year by placing ninth at the Arizona Intercollegiate, then took second place at The Joust in Riverside, California. Washington State saw its GolfStat ranking improve by 79 spots at the end of the 2020-21 season, as they finished the season ranked 98th in the country. Academically, the Cougs earned an All-American team distinction from the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA), as they posted a 3.31 team grade point average during the 2020-21 season. Nicklaus Chiam, Eric Hagen and Max Sekulic were each named GCAA All-American Scholars, while a total of seven golfers were selected to the 2021 Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll.
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 canceling play in mid-March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A quartet of freshmen made up for nearly 50% of the team’s scoring average during the 2019-20 season. 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. 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.
White guided the Cougs to four top-10 team finishes in 2018-19, with the team’s best finishing coming at the UC Irvine Invitational, where they placed fourth with a score of 880 (+16).
Academically, AJ Armstrong and Nicklaus Chiam were each selected to the GCAA All-America Scholars. It was the second selection for Armstrong, while it marked the first time Chiam had earned a spot on the list. Armstrong posted the highest GPA in all of the Pac-12 en route to an Pac-12 All-Academic first team and to the Google Cloud Academic All-District team. Additionally, three other Cougs joined Armstrong on the Pac-12 All-Academic team, as Chiam, Grant Cole and Scott Redelsperger each earned honorable mention status.
Washington State kicked off Year Two under White by winning the team title at the Intani Quality Homes Collegiate at Palouse Ridge Golf Course in Pullman. The Cougs shot a combined 819 to finish 33-under-par to give White his second team victory as WSU’s head coach. WSU finished with seven top-10 finishes in 2017-18.
WSU closed out the 2017-18 season with a seventh-place finish at the Pac-12 Championship, tying its best finish in school history...WSU closed out the tournament with a four-round score of 1412 (-8), leading No. 37 Arizona by 10 strokes...then-senior Zach Anderson led the charge with the fourth-best finish in WSU history at the championships tying for eighth…then-senior Derek Bayley, and then-juniors AJ Armstrong and Grant Cole each went one under par, all tying for 23rd.
In his first season at the helm for the Cougars (2016-17), White led the Cougars to eight top-10 team finishes, as six Cougars landed at least one top-10 individual finish. WSU captured the Itani Quality Homes Intercollegiate (Sept. 12-13) championship on its home course, shooting 10-under par (842) for the three rounds. Senior Nick Mandell captured his first individual tournament title, winning the tournament as an individual after shooting 210 (-3).
Freshmen Nicklaus Chiam and Daniel Kolar showed promise in their rookie seasons, as Chiam tied for fifth at the Itani Quality Homes Intercollegiate (Sept. 12-13) and Kolar tied for the best WSU finish at the Pac-12 Championships (April 28-30), placing tied for 26th.
During his time at WSU, White has also overseen the academic success of the Cougars with seven Pac-12 All-Academic selections over four seasons. During the 2013-14 season, Michael Anderson was named a Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholar.
During his third season as an assistant coach, the 2015-16 season, White helped guide freshmen AJ Armstrong and Aaron Whalen, as they recorded the seventh and eighth lowest scoring average amongst WSU freshmen in school history, respectively. In his sophomore year, Derek Bayley was just shy of WSU’s top-10 for lowest scoring average with an average of 73.08 in 37 rounds.
In his first complete season with WSU (2014-15), White helped the Cougars earn a title at the Pacific Invitational, WSU’s fifth victory in four seasons. White assisted in the success of redshirt-senior Sang Lee, who averaged the fourth-best season scoring average in WSU history. Freshman Derek Bayley also showed growth under the guidance of White, with the lowest scoring average by a freshman in school history.
In White’s first season in Pullman, senior Blake Snyder was named All-Pac-12 honorable mention as he finished tied for fourth at the Pac-12 Championships, the best finish by a Cougar at the conference championships in school history.
White returned to his alma mater after being a standout for the Cougars from 1999-2003. He was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection, including a first team honoree in 2002. That season, his junior campaign, he set a school record with eight top-10 finishes, earned his first-tournament victory and won a national player of the week honor.
As a sophomore, White began the season with a school-record tying 65 at the Northwest Classic in Corvallis, Ore. He earned one of his school record 17-career top 10 finishes at the event. He placed in the top 25 of a tournament 27 times, second in Cougar history.
A native of Pueblo, Colo., White was a winner on the Gateway Tour in 2004, 2006 and 2007. He played on the Nationwide Tour in 2005, 2009 and 2010. His career highlight came when he qualified for and participated in the 2006 U.S. Open. He is married to former WSU women’s golfer, and current women’s golf assistant coach, Emma Betland White.
