There are few positives to take from a tournament like the one the Utah golf team suffered last weekend. In fact, probably the Utes’ only true solace after their 17th-place finish at the John Burns Intercollegiate was that they escaped the cold weather of Salt Lake City for a few days.
The Utes struggled to find a rhythm during the three-day tournament in Honolulu, not carding a single below-par golfer for the weekend.
Sophomore Chance Cota led the team with a one-over-par score, which tied him for 38th place overall. Teammate Dustin Pimm shot a two-over 218 to finish in a tie for 44th. Rounding out the top four for Utah were Steve Broker and Chris Gresh, who shot 3-over and 16-over, respectively.
Utah dug itself into quite a hole on the first day of competition, shooting a 12-over-par. From there the Utes basically leveled off, finishing at 16-over.
The tournament, which included 22 teams, saw archrival BYU make a thrilling comeback victory on the last day of competition. The Cougars shot a blistering 270 (18-under-par) on Saturday, erasing a 10-shot deficit and capturing the victory.
Fellow Mountain West Conference teams UNLV, San Diego State and Colorado State all turned in impressive scores as well, finishing in the top five in the tournament.
The Utes will have a week to dwell on their latest faux pas, as they will most likely not be able to practice due to weather conditions. They will continue play next Monday in Beaumont, Calif., at the Braveheart Classic.