U golf team gets a chance to stop and enjoy the Valley View
U golfer Dustin Pimm and the rest of his team tee off today for the Purple and Red Invitational — the U’s third tournament of the season.
The tournament, which will be co-hosted by Utah and Weber State, takes place at the Valley View Golf Course in Layton.
“Most of us are familiar with this course, so we do have an advantage,” Pimm said. “Especially if the weather’s going to be bad. But Weber State probably has more of an advantage than we do.”
Weber State is certainly closer to the course, but the Wildcats concede one advantage to the Utes — they don’t have Pimm, the course’s collegiate record-holder.
In 2005’s Purple and Red Invitational, Pimm shot a single-round score of 8-under-par 64. He finished first in the tournament (14-under-par) and helped the Utes finish fourth overall that year.
“Personally, I’m not playing as well as I did back then, but as a team, I think we have a good shot,” Pimm said. “As long as we stay out of trouble, we’ll be okay.”
Aside from Weber State, the Utes will have to fend off 16 other teams, including Boise State, Utah State and Wyoming. This year’s total of 18 field participants is two more than last season’s.
U hockey team gets burned by Wildcats
On Saturday night, the U’s hockey club traveled north to take on Weber State for its season opener. For a couple of hours, the two teams delivered bruising checks and stinging stick slaps . Unfortunately for the Utes, the Wildcats delivered the final blow — a bruised ego.
Utah managed to keep the game close for well over a period until the more experienced Wildcats took over and outscored the Utes for a 12-1 victory.
According to backup goalie Jason Petho, the Utes out-shot and out-hustled the Wildcats until the final period, when Weber State broke the game open and Utah let things get out of hand.
The Utes’ Eric Baxter, a Weber State transfer who played for the Wildcats last season, began the night with a little payback by scoring the Utes’ only goal in the first period.
While both the Wildcats and the Utes played a physical game, Petho said that Weber State took it too far too often.
“They were overly aggressive and took some dirty shots,” Petho said. “They picked a couple of fights with our guys and got away with some cheap stick slaps.”
With all the heated action on the ice Saturday night, Petho summed it up best: “I guess you could say it was a trial by fire.”
Ute fans will get to show their support at Friday night’s home opener against Utah State. The game starts at 7 p.m. at the Steiner Ice Center.