Plagued by bad luck with Mother Nature that resulted in three straight unlucky 13th place finishes, U golf coach Wayne Fisher thinks his team’s misfortunes are about to change at the Thunderbird Invitational starting today in Goodyear, Ariz.
“The best thing that has happened to us is that the weather in Salt Lake City is finally playable,” Fisher said. “Previously, we had more tournaments than practice time, and it’s hard to be at your best when it’s like that. You can only hit inside or into the snow for so long.”
And a less-talented pool of teams won’t hurt either.
“There’s quite a mix of teams of Division I and II schools at the tournament. It should be a field we can be competitive in,” Fisher said. “I like to schedule this tournament to boost our confidence heading into the Cougar Classic and the MWC Tournament.”
Sophomore Luke Swilor has been the most consistent Ute to date. In Utah’s last tournament, the Anteater Invitational on March 25 and 26 in Irvine, Calif., Swilor swung a 13-over par 229 to finish in 36th place.
Swilor’s round average of 75.81 in 21 rounds of golf is tops on the team.
Fisher is also looking for leadership from an upperclassman who hasn’t played to his potential this year.
“I’m looking for Paul Winterowd to step it up. Last week, he did good in practice, and as a senior he wants to return to where his game was last year,” Fisher said.
Winterowd’s 232 (+16) at the Anteater Invitational was second-best on the team.