Women's Golf | 9/22/2023 8:00:00 AM

Utah Tech women's golf heads back to the Wasatch Front for the team's second event of the 2023 fall season. 

As part of the 50-year celebration of Title IX, the Trailblazers will be part of the field for the Big Sky Conference-hosted "Big Sky 54 for IX Tournament." The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be played this upcoming Monday and Tuesday at TalonsCove Golf Club in Saratoga Springs. 

The 14-team tournament field will include the Trailblazers and all 10 members of the Big Sky, including Weber State, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State and Sacramento State. In addition, fellow WAC members Utah Valley and Southern Utah, along with Hartford, will be part of the field. 

The five player lineup for the Trailblazers will feature senior Grace Williams, sophomores Brooke Gelinas and Jane Olson, freshman Samantha Phelan and sophomore Jenna Anderson, while sophomore Corinne Lillywhite and freshman Mia Cesarek will play as individuals.

HEAD COACH LINDSEY STUCKI: Lindsey Stucki (Utah Tech, 2007) begins her eighth season as head coach of the Trailblazer women's golf program. Last season, Stucki led the Trailblazers to six top-10 team finishes, highlighted by a third-place showing at their own UT/Café Zupas Inv'l, along with a seventh-place showing in their WAC Championships team debut.  
        During her tenure as Utah Tech head coach, Stucki has guided the Blazers to a runner-up Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference team finish in 2019, and to consecutive fifth-place finishes at the Pacific West Conference Championships in 2017 and 2018. 
        Prior to her arrival at Utah Tech, she served as assistant golf professional at the Sand Hollow Golf Resort, and as an LPGA assistant teaching professional for the City of St. George. Stucki also spent two seasons on the coaching staff of the Hurricane High School girl's golf program, including a one-year stint as the Tigers' head coach in the 2010-11 season. 
        Stucki, who is an apprentice member of the LPGA T&CP, played collegiately at the University of Central Arkansas, where she helped lead the Bears to six-consecutive team tournament wins and a Gulf South Conference championship. 
 
LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech rode a pair of record-breaking performances en route to an 11^th-place finish at the 2023-24 season-opening Utah Valley Timpanogos Intercollegiate, which was played this past Sept. 10-12, at the Timpanogos Golf Club in Provo.
        After opening with an 11-over par 299 on its opening loop, Utah Tech went low, school-record breaking low, over its final 36 holes. 
        The Trailblazers shattered the program's single-round record with a second round even-par 288 to vault from 17^th-place to 12^th, then duplicated that effort with another even-par team team round on their final loop to move up one more spot on the team leaderboard at plus-11 875.
Utah Tech's bettered the previous team single-round record of 295 by seven shots. Last season, the Blazers shot a 295 nearly one year ago to the day in the first round of the Weber State Kelsey Chugg Inv'l (9/19/22), then matched that effort this past April in the second round of the Montana State Bobcat Desert Classic (4/10/23).
        Williams led the Trailblazers' effort as she finished in an eight-way tie for 24^th at minus-1 215. Williams bracketed a pair of even-par 72s around a 1-under 71 in round two on her way to her career collegiate low 54-hole score.  
        Phelan bounced back from an opening 5-over 77 by firing the team's low round of the event, a 2-under 70 on her second loop on Monday. Phelan then followed that up with a 72 on Tuesday to finish in solo 40^th in her first collegiate event. 
        Meanwhile, Olson (76-74-73) joined four others tied for 55^th at plus-7 223, which tied collegiate 54-hole career low score. Gelinas (75-73-76) followed in t-60^th at plus-8 224, and Anderson (76-80-71) tied for 73^rd at plus-11 227 in her first career event. 

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: The Trailblazers will enjoy a two-week break before returning to action at the Eastern Washington Eagle Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole event will be played on Oct. 9-10, at Indian Canyon Golf Course in Spokane.