Men's Golf | 10/12/2024 10:15:00 AM

Utah Tech men's golf continues its 2024-25 fall season this upcoming week at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational in Stockton, Calif. The three-day, 54-hole event will be played Monday-through-Wednesday at the par-72, 7,278-yard The Reserve at Spanos Park Golf Club.  

In addition to the Trailblazers and the host Tigers, the 15-team tournament field will comprise of fellow WAC members California Baptist and Grand Canyon, along with California, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, Cal State Fullerton, CSUN, Idaho, Nevada, Sacramento State, San Diego, and Washington State.
 
The five player lineup for the Trailblazers will feature juniors Zach Felts and Tanner Telford, and sophomores Jackson Rhees, Ashton McArthur and KJ Ofahengaue. 

HEAD COACH BRAD SUTTERFIELD: Brad Sutterfield (BYU, 1994) is in his 13th season as head coach of the Utah Tech men's golf program. Last season, Sutterfield led the Trailblazers to six top-15 team finishes in 10 events, highlighted by a sixth-place finish at the 2024 WAC Championships.  
        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. Utah Tech 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 Utah Tech 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.
        Coach Sutterfield is joined on his staff by former Utah Tech standout player Spencer Wallace, who returns to the program in his first season as an assistant coach.

LAST TIME OUT: Utah Tech wrapped up its season opening two-event trip to Colorado with an eighth-place finish at theAir Force Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, which was played this past Sept. 21-23, at the USAFA Eisenhower Blue Golf Course in Colorado Springs. 
        The Trailblazers found themselves in sixth-place on the 22-team leaderboard after combining to fire an eight-over par 296 in their opening 18 holes. Utah Tech bettered that effort by four shots with a 4-over 292 on its second loop on a chilly Sunday afternoon, but the Blazers saw themselves fall four spots to t-10^th overall at plus-12 588. Utah Tech would save its best for last as the Trailblazers carded a final round 3-under 285 on day three to climb up two spots to eighth-overall with a team total of plus-9 873.  
        A trio of Trailblazers wound up in a six-way tie for 28^th-place overall on the player leaderboard at plus-3 219. 
        Felts posted scores of 1-over 73 and 2-over 74 in his first two loops, during which he penciled in three birdies and an eagle in each of those rounds. Felts then closed with an even par 72 with two birdies and 14 pars, which allowed him to climb up nine spots on the board. 
        McArthur rebounded from an opening 6-over 78 with two birdies and 15 pars in round two en route to a 1-under 71. McArthur went on to roll in a team event-high seven birdies during his final round on his way to a 2-under 70, that helped vault him 18 spots up the leaderboard. 
        Rhees wrote in three birdies on his card in each of his first two rounds, during which he posted scores of 72 and 73, then finished with a 74 with one more birdie on day three.
        Telford, who led the team with 11 total birdies over the three days, also bounced back from an opening 6-over 78 with a 74 in round two. Telford went on to fire a team-best 3-under 69 in the final round, in a round that included four birdies and 13 pars, which helped him join three others tied for 39^th at plus-5 221. 
        Meanwhile Ofahengaue, who rolled in three birdies in each of his three rounds, opened with a 73 and 74 before a final round 5-over 77 moved him to t-51^st at plus-8 224. 
 
TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE: Through two fall events, Telford leads the team with a 70.50 scoring average with a team-best four par or better rounds, while Rhees is second at 71.17 with three par or better rounds. Felts is third at 71.67 (three par of better rounds), followed by Ofahengaue in fourth at 71.83 (two par of better rounds), and McArthur is fifth at an even 72.00 (three par or better rounds). 

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will enjoy a two-week break before hopping on over to the Islands for the Hawai'i Kapolei Invitational. The three-day, 54-hole event will be played on Oct. 29-31 at the Kapolei Golf Club.