Men's Golf | 10/6/2023 12:47:00 PM
Utah Tech men's golf 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 14-team tournament field will include fellow WAC members Seattle U and Tarleton, along with in-state foe Utah. Meanwhile, Arkansas State, Boise State, Gonzaga, Idaho, Long Beach State, Pacific, Sam Houston, Southern Mississippi, and Washington State, along with individual players from Arizona State, round out the tourney field.
The five player lineup for the Trailblazers will feature sophomore
Zach Felts, senior
Camron Saunders, freshman
KJ Ofahengaue, senior
Tyler Jones, and sophomore
Parker Reese.
HEAD COACH BRAD SUTTERFIELD: Brad Sutterfield (Brigham Young, 1994) is in his 12th season as head coach of the Utah Tech men's golf program. Last season, Sutterfield led the Trailblazers to six top-10 team finishes in 11 events, highlighted by a pair of sixth-place showing at the SUU Pizza Hut/Pat Hicks and UC San Diego Invitationals, along with a seventh-place showing in their WAC Championships team debut.
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 2023 fall season with a 19
th-place finish at the New Mexico-hosted William H. Tucker Intercollegiate played this past Sept. 25-26, at the UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque.
The Trailblazers opened with a 14-over 302 on their morning loop, and followed that up with an 13-over 301 in the afternoon round. UT then closed with a final round 12-over 300 to close with a team total of plus-39 903.
Host New Mexico (280-280-275-835; -29) fired a final round 13-under 275 to leap over runner-up Texas Tech (278-280-280-838; -26) to claim the team title, while San Diego State (289-274-287-850; -14) placed third.
Felts (71-75-71) was UT's top finisher as he bracketed a pair of 1-under 71s around a 3-over 75 to join five others tied for 31
st at plus-1 217.
Meanwhile Jones (78-73-76) finished t-82
nd at plus-11 227, followed by Reese (77-77-78) in t-94
th at plus-16 232, Ofahengaue (76-82-75) in t-97
th at plus-17 233, and freshman
Carter Williams (78-76-88) in 104
th at plus-26 242 in his first collegiate team event.
TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE: Through three fall events, Felts leads the team with a 72.33 scoring average with a team-best four par or better rounds, while Jones is second at 74.22. Saunders is fourth at 76.17, followed by Ofahengaue in fifth at 76.22, and Reese is seventh with a 77.11 stroke average.
NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: The Trailblazers will wrap up their 2023 fall event schedule at the Pacific-hosted Visit Stockton Invitational on October 16-18, in Stockton, Calif.
