Men's Golf | 2/23/2025 4:50:00 PM

        Utah Tech returns to action early next week when the Trailblazers tee it up at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Desert, Calif.
        The three-day, 54-hole event will be played this Monday-through-Wednesday at the par-72, 7,322-yard Classic Club Golf Course. 
        Along with the Trailblazers, the 15-team field will include fellow WAC members California Baptist and Tarleton State. In addition, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Colorado Christian, Drake, Cal State Fullerton, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, UC Santa Barbara, Northern Iowa, South Dakota State, UT-San Antonio, and the host Cowboys round out the field. 
        The five player lineup for Utah Tech will feature juniors Zach Felts, Tanner Telford and Maddox Vincent, sophomore Jackson Rhees, and freshman Frank Miao. In addition, sophomore Ashton McArthur will play as an individual.

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 kicked off the 2025 spring season with a fourth place finish at the Eastern Kentucky-hosted Mesquite Desert Classic, which wrapped up play this past Tuesday at the Casablanca Resort Golf Course in Mesquite, Nev.
        The Trailblazers' fourth place showing was their second team top-five finish of the season. 
        After positioning themselves in the top-three after an opening 4-under 284 on Sunday, the Trailblazers went even lower on Monday by firing their second-lowest team score of the season with a 7-under 281. 
        All five Utah Tech players shot under par during that second loop, which moved the Blazers into solo third place and nine shots back of host EKU after 36 holes. However the Trailblazers closed with a combined 1-over 289 on Tuesday to slip a spot to fourth with a team total of minus-10 854.
        All five Trailblazers finished in the top-30 on the player leaderboard, led by Vincent, who tied for fifth-over at minus-6 210.
        Vincent got off to a great start with back-to-back 4-under 68s, which tied his career collegiate-low round and was good for third place heading into Tuesday. The junior, who penciled in 13 total birdies and one of three eagles Utah Tech recorded at the event, closed with a 2-over 74 on Tuesday on his way to his fourth career top-10.
        Meanwhile, Miao enjoyed a solid collegiate debut with consecutive 1-under 71s after opening with an even-par 72 to finish in a five-way tie for 13^th at minus-2 214. Miao rolled in 10 total birdies over his three rounds, seven of which came during his first two collegiate under-par loops.
        Felts wound up a shot back in t-18^th place at minus-1 215. The junior opened with back-to-back 71s, and recorded five of his 12 total birdies during Monday's second round. Felts then followed that up with a 73 on Tuesday in posting his first top-20 finish of the season.
        Freshman Cole Taylor also made his collegiate debut at the EKU event and came away with a t-23^rd place finish at 1-over 217. Taylor bookended a pair of 73s with his first under-par round as a Trailblazers, a second round 71 that included his first collegiate eagle. He penciled in 11 total birdies over the three days, five of which came in Sunday's first round.
        Rhees led Utah Tech with 15 total birdies and an eagle, including seven birdies as part of a final round 72, which vaulted him 11 spots and into a seven-way tie for 29^th at plus-3 219. Rhees' eagle also came in the second round as part of a 71, which helped him rebound from an opening 4-over 76. 

TRAILBLAZERS AT A GLANCE: Thanks to his strong collegiate debut, Miao heads into the Wyoming tourney with a team-best 71.33 stroke average, while Vincent vaulted to second with a 72.17 scoring average (in six total rounds) after his first team event.  
        Rhees co-leads Utah Tech with seven rounds of par or better and is third in stroke average at 72.20, followed closely by Felts in fourth at 72.27 with six par or better rounds.
        McArthur has also carded seven par or better rounds in 12 total rounds played and owns a 72.42 scoring average, and Telford who posted a solo third-place finish at the season opening event at Colorado State (9/17-18/24), has five par or better rounds and a 72.58 average.  

NEXT UP FOR THE TRAILBLAZERS: Utah Tech will return to action in two weeks when the Trailblazers head to Bandon, Ore., to play in the Idaho-hosted Bandon Dunes Championships on March 9-11.