Men's Golf | 10/7/2022 10:25:00 AM

Utah Tech returns to action this Monday and Tuesday at the Oregon State Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole event will be played at the par-71, 7,384-yard Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis.  

In addition to UT and the host Beavers, the 15-team tournament field will include fellow WAC members Sam Houston, Seattle U and Tarleton State, along with in-state foe Utah. Meanwhile, Boise State, Cal State Fullerton, Gonzaga, Idaho, Kansas State, Pacific, Sacramento State, Southern Mississippi and Washington State round out the field.
 
The five player lineup for the Trailblazers will feature seniors Davis Heslington and Tyler Jones, and freshmen Zach Felts, Parker Reese and Maddox Vincent. 

HEAD COACH BRAD SUTTERFIELD: Brad Sutterfield (Brigham Young, 1994) is in his 11th season as head coach of the Utah Tech men's golf program. Last season, Sutterfield led the Trailblazers to three top-10 team finishes in 10 events, highlighted by a fifth-place showing at the SUU Pizza Hut/Pat Hicks Inv'l. 
                In the 2018-19 campaign, Coach Sutterfield and the Trailblazers enjoyed arguably their most successful season in the program's four-year era, posting six top-five team finishes and 11 total top-10 showings in 12 total team events, highlighted by a wire-to-wire victory at the 2019 NCAA Division II Men's Golf South Central/West Regional Championships. UT also placed ninth-overall at the 2019 NCAA National Championships and recorded a runner-up finish in its debut at the RMAC Championships.
                In 2018, Sutterfield led UT to its third Pacific West Conference team title in four seasons, which earned him his second conference Coach of the Year award. The Trailblazers collected four tournament wins overall that season, along with seven-straight top-three team finishes and nine total top-10s in nine events overall.
            Under his direction, the program finished in the top-three overall in the PacWest in six seasons overall, including consecutive PacWest team titles in 2015 and 2016, and a runner-up finish in 2014, for which Sutterfield was named conference Coach of the Year. Prior to his arrival at Utah Tech, Sutterfield, who played collegiately at BYU, played professional golf for 15 years as a member of the PGA Tour, European Tour, the Web.com Tour, Canadian Tour, Asian Tour and European Challenge Tour.

LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech continued its 2022 fall season with a two-way tie for 12^th-place at the New Mexico-hosted William H. Tucker Intercollegiate played this past Sept. 23-24, at the UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque.
            The Trailblazers opened with a 9-over 297 on their Friday morning loop, and followed that up with an 8-over 296 in the afternoon round. UT then closed with a 6-over 294 on Saturday, which vaulted the Blazers three spots up the leaderboard to tie with San Diego (300-292-295) with a team total of plus-23 887.
            San Diego State (279-280-289-848; -16) led wire-to-wire to claim the team title, besting the host Lobos (290-274-292-856; -8) by eight strokes, while UNLV (284-287-287-858; -6) wound up in third overall.
            Felts (74-71-73) was UT's top finisher, rolling in a team-high nine birdies overall, including four birdies as part of a second round 1-under 71, to join six other players in t-23^rd at plus-2 218. Meanwhile, Jones (71-77-74) opened with a 71 thanks to three birdies and an eagle, which were followed by rounds of 77 and 74, to finish in an eight-way tie for 45^th at plus-6 222.  
            Reese (79-73-72) rebounded from an opening 7-over 79 by playing 1-over golf over his final 36 holes to tie for 58^th at plus-8 224, followed by Heslington (73-75-77) in t-62^th at plus-9 225, and sophomore Taft Lewis (79-81-75) in in t-98^th at plus-19 235.
 
TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE: Through two events this fall, Vincent leads the team with a 71.00 scoring average with two par or better rounds, both of which came at the season-opening USAFA Gene Miranda Falcon Inv'l, where he finished t-seventh in his collegiate debut event. 
            Felts is tied for second at 71.67 with a team-high tying three par or better rounds in six total loops, highlighted by a t-sixth showing at the USAFA Miranda in his first collegiate event. 
Bolstered by his medalist performance at the USAFA Miranda individual tournament, Heslington joins Felts at 71.67 with three under-par rounds, followed by Jones in fourth (74.33; two par/better rounds) and Reese in sixth (76.00; one par/better round). 

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: The Trailblazers will wrap up their 2022 fall slate at the Pacific-hosted Visit Stockton Invitational on October 20-22, in Stockton, Calif.