Men's Golf | 9/21/2023 4:19:00 PM

Utah Tech men's golf returns to the course this upcoming Monday and Tuesday to play at the New Mexico-hosted William H. Tucker Intercollegiate. The two-day, 54-hole event will be played at the par-72, 7,546-yard UNM Championship Course in Albuquerque.

In addition to UT and the host Lobos, the 20-team tournament field will include fellow WAC member New Mexico State, along with in-state foe No. 30 BYU. Meanwhile, Colorado, Hawai'i, Kansas State, Long Beach State, San Diego, San Diego State, San Francisco, Santa Clara, TCU, No. 15 Texas Tech, UC Santa Barbara, UNLV, USC, UTEP, UTSA and Wyoming round out the field.
 
The five player lineup for the Trailblazers will feature sophomore Zach Felts, senior Tyler Jones, freshman KJ Ofahengaue, sophomore Parker Reese, and freshman Carter Williams. 

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 opened the 2023 fall season with a pair of tournaments played in Colorado earlier this month.
        Utah Tech men's golf kicked off the campaign with a t-12^th place finish at the Colorado State Ram Masters Invitational, which was played this past Sept. 6-7 at the Fort Collins Country Club. 
        After opening with a 13-over par 293 on their morning loop, the Trailblazers closed out with consecutive rounds of 18-over 298 to finish with a final team total of plus-49 298. 
        The Trailblazers then traveled south to Colorado Springs to play in the Air Force Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational at the USAFA Blue Course on Sept. 10-12. 
        Utah Tech stood in 22nd place after opening with a 17-over par 305, though the team managed to better its performance during the second round, posting an 8-over 296 to move up on spot to t-21^st.
        The Blazers then came back and fired their low round of the event, a 4-over 292, which vaulted the Trailblazers up two spots to 19th with a final score of plus-29 893.
 
TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE: Through two fall events, Felts leads the team with a 72.33 scoring average, while Jones follows closely behind in second at 73.50.
        Ofahengaue is fourth at 75.50 through his first two collegiate events and Reese is sixth with a 77.00 stroke average. Williams (70-78-74-222; +9), who tied for 24^th earlier this week as an individual in his first collegiate tourney at the Arizona State Papago Invitational, will be making his 2023-24 team debut at the UNM event. 

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: The Trailblazers will enjoy a two-week break before playing at the Oregon State Invitational on Oct. 9-10, at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis.