Utah Golf Finishes 27th In NCAA Championship
May 30, 2022, 11:07 AM
Photo courtesy: Tom Hackett, KSL Sports
SALT LAKE CITY- Utah golf’s season comes to a close Sunday night after coming up short to move on to Monday’s final stroke round, finishing 27th in the country. It is their highest finish since their last NCAA appearance in 1988 where they finished 29th overall.
Sad our season has come to an end, but we’re extremely proud of what we were able to accomplish🙌#GoUtes https://t.co/wx5kK4h3qj
— Utah Mens Golf (@UtesGolf) May 30, 2022
The Utes finished their championship appearance strong in less than ideal conditions with wind being a factor Sunday afternoon. Braxton Watts and Martin Leon had their best performances of the weekend and set the tone for the Utes early on.
The Highlights
Utah collectively shot their lowest team score Sunday afternoon with a 296 (+12). All three days together the Utes were 904 (+64).
Watts turned in a 72 (+2) and a team best of four birdies for the Utes. Sunday’s performance for Watts was 14 strokes better than Saturday’s and 5 strokes better than Friday’s. The talented freshman finished the weekend 237 (+27) overall.
Leon held his own topping his second day score by seven strokes and finishing Sunday 73 (+3). The other talented freshman finished the weekend 234 (+24) in total.
Javier Barcos was a steady force for the Utes through three days posting a team low total score of 222 (+12).
Senior Blake Tomlinson ended his career with a 76 (+6) Sunday afternoon and posted a final total championship score of 226 (+16).
Rounding out Utah’s starting five for the NCAA Championship, senior Tristan Mandur finished his career with a 12-over 82. Like Leon, Mandur finshed the tournament with a total of 234 (+24).
A Good Experience
While not the desired result, head coach Garrett Clegg feels good about the future of Utah golf. Back in 2021, the Utes were selected to their first regional since 1992 and it is very clear they’ve taken an even bigger step forward this past season.
“Today was our best round of the week. Score wise it was only one stroke lower than the first round, but overall it was much better,” Clegg said. “I know this wasn’t the national championship that we wanted, but it was great to be here. It was a huge learning opportunity for Javier, Martin and Braxton. Hopefully next year we will be back here to finish our season and they will be better prepared for what is in front of them.”
Utah golf appears to be on the up-and-up after a 2022 season that Clegg says has really set the bar for the Golfing Utes.
“It was an outstanding season for the golf program and the team set a new standard for future teams to measure themselves. We played great golf for most of the year and as a group we were extremely consistent,” Clegg said. “The future is extremely bright with Javier leading the way for two more years. With the emergence of Martin and Braxton, I expect our program to continue to be a force on the national scene. We have incredible people within our program and it is a great time to be a Ute!”
