The par-3 12th hole at Lake Merced

Recently turned pro Xander Schauffele, a graduated senior from San Diego State, will not be back to defend his title from a year ago. But there are certainly more than enough noteworthy names in the 2015 field.

Jake Knapp, a soon-to-be senior at UCLA, just returned from the U.S. Open, where he shot rounds of 74 and 76 to miss the cut by five. It was Knapp's second PGA Tour event of the year as the Costa Mesa native Monday-qualified for the Farmers Insurance Open back in early February. Knapp shot stellar rounds of 64 and 72 on June 8 at U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying in Newport Beach to advance to the championship proper at Chambers Bay.

Knapp is paired with University of California senior Shotaro Ban for the two rounds of stroke play qualifying. Ban, a native of San Jose, had an impressive junior season for the Bears in which he won the John Burns Intercollegiate, took second at the Western Intercollegiate, and placed inside the top-15 at the Pac-12 Championship and the NCAA South Central Regional.

Recent Memorial Amateur winner Joshua Sedeno of Loomis will look to build off a hot start to his summer. Sedeno, who attends Del Oro High School and has committed to play for SMU beginning in the fall of 2016, edged defending champion Cameron Champ over Memorial Day weekend at Ancil Hoffman Golf Course for the biggest win of his amateur career thus far.

Other players in the field include two members of the 2015 NCAA Men's National Championship runners-up USC — sophomore Jonah Texeira, senior Bobby Gojuangco, and graduating senior Eric Sugimoto. Ban's Cal teammates KK Limbhasut and Sebastian Crampton are at Lake Merced, as are notable mid-amateur players Tim Hogarth of Northridge, Dan Sullivan of Pasadena, and Jason Anthony of Fairfield.

Stay tuned for a full report later this evening from the first round of stroke play qualifying.