Men's Golf | 2/14/2025 11:38:00 AM
Utah Tech opens its 2025 spring schedule close to home as the Trailblazers make the quick 40-mile trek down Interstate-15 to Mesquite, Nev., to play in the Eastern Kentucky-hosted Mesquite Desert Classic. The three-day, 54-hole event will be played this Sunday-through-Tuesday, at the par-72, 7,010-yard Casablanca Resort Golf Course.
In addition to the Trailblazers and the host Colonels, the 12-team tournament field will include fellows WAC members Seattle U and Utah Valley, along with Bellarmine, Bowling Green, Cal Poly, Idaho, Morehead State, Northern Kentucky, Ohio and Western Kentucky.
The five player lineup for Utah Tech will feature juniors
Zach Felts and
Maddox Vincent, sophomore
Jackson Rhees, and freshmen
Frank Miao and
Cole Taylor.
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 closed out its 2024 fall schedule by tying for 10
th at the Hawai'i Kapolei Invitational, which played on Oct. 29-31, at Kapolei Golf Club on the Island of Oahu.
The Trailblazers got off to good start on day one as they combined to fire a 2-under 286 to stand in solo fifth on the team leaderboard.
Utah Tech, along with the rest of the field, struggled with the conditions during the second round, and even though the Blazers managed to post an 8-over 296, they moved up into a tie for fourth at plus-6 582.
However the Trailblazers could not remain in the top-five as they finished with a disappointing 16-over 304 in their final loop to join Army (295-292-297) in 10
th place at plus-22 886.
Junior
Tanner Telford was the top Trailblazer finisher at the event as he tied five others for 15
th-place at plus-3 219. Telford rolled in four of his nine total birdies as part of an opening 1-under 71.
Then after a 3-over 75 on his second loop, Telford came back with a 1-over 73 with a pair of birdies and 14 pars to move up five spots on the leaderboard en route to his second top-15 showing of the fall.
Both Felts and Rhees up in a pack of nine players tied for 21
st at plus-4 220.
Felts, who penciled in seven total birdies and an eagle over his three days of play, matched Telford score-for-score through his first 36 holes. Felts rolled in three birdies in round three, but was done in by five bogeys as he came away with a final round 2-over 74.
Meanwhile Rhees, who led the Trailblazers with 13 total birdies at the event, penciled in six birdies as part of an opening 3-under 69. However the sophomore would follow that up with rounds of 75 and 4-over 76.
Sophomore
Ashton McArthur began his tourney with an opening 75, which he followed a second round 71 that featured four birdies. Unfortunately McArthur was not able to keep that momentum going on his final loop as he closed with a 9-over 81 to finish in a three-way tie for 56
th at plus-11 227.
Fellow sophomore
KJ Ofahengaue (76-75-81) carded eight combined birdies over the three days as he tied for 70
that plus-16 232, while Vincent (72-78-73), who recorded 11 total birdies over the three days, tied for 40
th at plus-7 223 playing as an individual.
TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE: Through four fall events, Rhees leads the team with a 72.00 stroke average with five par or better rounds, while Felts is second at 72.42 with four par or better rounds.
Vincent made his season debut in Hawai'i last fall and checks in with a 74.33 stroke average through three rounds, while both Miao and Taylor will be making their collegiate debuts at the EKU event.
2025 SPRING SCHEDULE: Utah Tech will play in five regular season events this spring in four different states. Following their quick trip to Mesquite, the Trailblazers head to California to play in the Wyoming Desert Classic (Feb. 24-26) at The Classic Club in Palm Springs.
The Blazers will tee it up at two renowned courses in March, beginning with a trip to Oregon to play in the Idaho-hosted Bandon Dunes Championship (March 9-11). Utah Tech travels back to the Northwest later in the month to play at the Seattle U Redhawk Invitational (March 30-April 1), which will take place at Chambers Bay Golf Club, which was the site of the 2015 United States Open.
The Trailblazers then wrap up the regular season at the UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational at Sandpiper Golf Course in Santa Barbara on April 7-9.
The 2025 WAC Championships will be played on April 25-27, at The Golf Club at Chaparral Pines in Payson, Ariz.
