The Utah golf team left the rain, sleet and cold behind it earlier this week, finding a certain degree of solace in the warmer weather of Southern Utah.
The Utes finished fourth in a field of 18 teams in St. George on Tuesday, shooting extremely well considering they haven’t been able to practice during most of the winter.
“We shot pretty well today,” Utah coach Randall McCracken said. “We haven’t been able to practice too much over the break, so I was pleased with our effort.”
Utah got off to a slow start at the Pat Hicks Invitational on Monday, shooting a 290 on the first day to fall into a tie for seventh place.
But the Utes quickly shook off the cobwebs on the second day and were able to fire a team score of 285 to move up three places into fourth. “We got some key wins against some good teams today,” McCracken said.
The Utes were led by junior Nicholas Larson, who shot a 4-under 68 on the second day of competition to finish the tournament tied for 23rd place.
Fellow junior Dustin Pimm bounced back from a sub-par first day to shoot a 2-under on Tuesday, finishing the tournament tied for 30th at even par.
Utah hopes to improve upon its first tournament next weekend when it travels to Honolulu, Hawaii, for the John Burns Intercollegiate Championship.
“I’m really excited with how this team played and we have a great chance improve upon that in Hawaii,” McCracken said.