Men's Golf | 3/24/2023 1:05:00 PM

Utah Tech will play in the third of four-straight California events when the Trailblazers travel to La Jolla for the UC San Diego Invitational this Monday and Tuesday.
            The two-day, 54-hole event will take place at storied Torrey Pines Golf Course. The tournament will be played on the par-72, 7,258-yard North Course.
            The 15-team field will include fellow WAC members California Baptist, Seattle U and Southern Utah, along with in-state foe Utah State. In addition, Bucknell, CSUN, Florida A&M, Hawai'i, Lehigh, Oklahoma Christian, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, and the host Tritons 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 posted a 12^th place overall team finish at the 2023 Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate, which was played this past March 1-3, at The Classic Club in Palm Desert.
The Trailblazers battled the elements during round one to finish the day in 15^th at 26-over par 314. Utah Tech found the conditions more favorable on its second loop as the Blazers moved up two spots to 13^thafter a 5-over 293, then followed that up with a 3-over 291 to finish play at plus-34 898.
Host Wyoming (290-279-288-857; -7) led after 36 holes and held on to the top spot to claim the team title, while Fresno State (286-290-284-860; -4) and Colorado (289-289-285-863; -1) were the only two teams to finish play in red numbers.
Vincent played steady throughout the event, opening with a 2-over 74, before carding a 1-over 73 on his second loop and a final round even-par 72 to finish t-23 at plus-3 219.
Heslington (76-70-77) was one of two Blazers to post a red number during the event, firing a second round 2-under 70 on his way to a t-37^th showing at plus-7 223. Jones (85-75-70) rebounded from an opening 85 with rounds of 3-over 75 and 70 to join six other tied 62^nd at plus-14 230.
Felts (79-75-80) and junior Camron Saunders (85-77-72) each tied for 72^nd at plus-18 234.

TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE: Through seven events this season, Heslington leads the team with a 72.71 scoring average in 21 competitive rounds and a team-best eight par or better rounds, highlighted by his medalist performance at the USAFA Miranda (9/9-11/22) individual tournament.
            Felts is second at 73.67 with six par or better rounds in 21 total loops, which includes a t-sixth showing at the USAFA Miranda in his first collegiate event. 
Vincent is third at 74.33 with four par/better rounds, followed by Jones in fifth (74.62; six par/better rounds) and Reese in seventh (76.14; one par/better round). 

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will return to California for the final time this season to compete at the UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational on April 10-11.