Men's Golf | 2/17/2023 1:00:00 PM

Utah Tech men's golf returns to action this upcoming Monday and Tuesday as the Trailblazers head to SoCal to play in the California Baptist Joust. The two-day, 54-hole event will be played at the par-71, 6,560-yard Goose Creek Golf Club in Jurupa Valley, Calif. 
 
The five player lineup for the Trailblazers will feature seniors Davis Heslington and Tyler Jones, junior Camron Saunders, sophomore Taft Lewis, and freshman Zach Felts.

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. DSU 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 opened the 2023 spring season with a sixth-place finish at the Southern Utah Pizza Hut/Pat Hicks Invitational played last weekend at Sunbrook Golf Course.
The Trailblazers opened tournament play on Friday with a season-low tying 3-under 285 to stand alone in third place after their first loop. However UT slugged through a tough scoring second round on Saturday, shooting a combined 9-over 297 to slip one spot to t-fourth, and fell two spots to sixth after a final round 5-over 293 to finish the event at plus-11 875. 
Utah Valley (280-290-272) fired a tourney-low minus-16 272 on Sunday to run away with the team title, 20 shots clear of runner-up Weber State (292-288-282-862; -2) and 21 shots ahead of third place Utah State (278-286-299-863; -1), which was the clubhouse leader after both the first and second rounds. 
Two Trailblazers closed the tourney in the top-15 on the player leaderboard, led by Jones in t-eighth at minus-2 214. Jones opened with a 1-under 71, which included a bogey free 3-under 33 on The Pointe side. He then followed that up with a second round 2-over 74 and a 3-under 69 on his final loop, and finished t-third in the field in total birdies with 13.
Meanwhile Felts finished tied with four others for 14^th at even par 216. Felts followed up an opening 2-over 74 with consecutive 1-under 71s over his final two rounds, and was one of seven players to card at least two eagles during the 54-hole event. 
Heslington (71-74-76) wound up tied for 26^th at plus-5 221, followed by Lewis (70-78-77) in a pack of five golfers tied for 38^th at plus-9 225, and freshman Parker Reese (73-81-WD) had to withdraw from Sunday's final round due to injury.  
Two other Trailblazers played as individuals in the event, with junior Saunders (73-73-76) tying for 29^th at plus-6 222, while freshman Maddox Vincent (72-76-77-225; +9) joined Lewis in a tie for 38^th place.  

TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE: Through five events this season, Heslington leads the team with a 71.93 scoring average in 15 competitive rounds and a team-best seven par or better rounds, highlighted by his medalist performance at the USAFA Miranda (9/9-11/22) individual tournament.
            Felts is second at 72.73 with six par or better rounds in 15 total loops, which includes a t-sixth showing at the USAFA Miranda in his first collegiate event. 
Lewis is third at 73.92 with five par/better rounds, followed by Jones in fourth (74.20; five par/better rounds) and Saunders in sixth (75.33) 

2023 SPRING SCHEDULE: Utah Tech will play in the second of four-straight California events when the Blazers head to Palm Desert for the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate on March 1-3.