Greg Hutton’s golf teams at Cal State San Marcos are making history.
For the first time, both the Cougars’ men’s and women’s golf teams are competing in the NCAA Division II Championships.
And while it’s exciting times for the golfers, the double run of success has turned into something of a marathon for Hutton and assistant coach Brook Brand.
Starting with conference tournaments, men’s and women’s NCAA golf events are staggered. And while the golfers get time off between events, the coaches go from one event to the next as long as their teams keep advancing — which the Cougars have done to perfection.
“I won’t be home in 22 days,” Hutton said earlier this week after he rejoined his women’s team in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., for the start of the NCAA Championships on the PGA National Course.
After the women’s NCAA Championships end Saturday, Hutton will catch a flight to Nevada, where the men’s NCAA Championships begin their five-day run next Monday in Boulder City.
“This has been quite a run,” Hutton said of CSUSM’s parallel runs in golf. “What’s been most rewarding is the interest each team has shown in the other’s success.
“The men’s players wanted to hear from me about how the women won the NCAA Western Regionals for the first time. And the women players wanted to hear how the men rallied from 12th on the final day of their regionals to finish fourth and earn their berth in the NCAA finals. There’s a lot to celebrate.”
And a lot of ground to cover.
The Hutton and Brand road trip began in April, when the men and women traveled to Stockton together for the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament.
The next stop was the Women’s NCAA West Regionals in Pueblo, Colo., where the Cougars scored a major upset by defeating Dallas Baptist to win the 18-team event. Hutton returned to Stockton, which was also the site of the Men’s Western Regionals.
And while the two Cougars teams are from the same school, they have different backgrounds.
Ranked ninth in the nation, the women’s team is led by veterans Avery Foster and Kiara Hernandez and includes Del Mar native Carmella Carlisi and Cathedral Catholic High School graduate Ellaclair Leedom (Cathedral Catholic High School). Both locals are freshmen.
Cal State San Marcos golfer Liam Weaver takes part in the CCAA Championships. (Catharyn Hayne, KLC fotos)
The men’s team is paced by redshirt freshman Liam Weaver, who is from Coronado by way of San Diego State.
“Overall, we’re pretty young,” said Hutton. “We have six freshmen on the men’s roster and four on the women’s roster. The difference is (that) freshmen led the men’s team while we had those two veteran women atop the women’s lineup.:”
Foster, who transferred to CSUSM last summer after Sonoma State discontinued its athletic program, finished second in the NCAA Regionals. Hernandez, who transferred to CSUSM in the middle of the 2025 season from Point Loma Nazarene, tied for sixth. Carlisi and Leedom were the Cougars’ next lowest scorers at the regionals.
“I don’t think they felt the pressure of beating the perennial power that is Dallas Baptist at the Regionals,” Hutton said of his women’s team. “We beat DBU and the weather. The high was 35 degrees with wind gusts of 20 to 30 miles an hour. The wind chill was 20 degrees.
“And we came through. It was the best week I’ve ever had with the women’s team.”
The women didn’t have a great start Tuesday. Hernandez led the way with a 1-over-par 73 and the Cougars were in the middle of the pack at 19-over for the first round. Sickles shot a 77, Carlisi a 78, Foster a 79 and Leedom an 83.
The men also had the individual runner-up at the NCAA Regionals in Weaver. Freshman Kai Miyata tied for 10th. Junior Gavin McCormick was the third-lowest scoring Cougar after winning the CCAA’s individual title. The Cougars’ roster includes two local freshmen in addition to Weaver — Julian Gay (Patrick Henry High School) and Aaron Arch (Mission Vista High School).
“It’s pretty rare for any university to have both its teams in the NCAA Golf Championships,” said Hutton. “That in itself is awesome. And we’re trying to make a run at two national championships.”
Every week, U-T contributor Bill Center highlights one San Diego college team that’s making strides on and off the field. To nominate a team, email wcenter27@gmail.com.