In the house of Pac-12 teams this season, the Utes have become the doormat.
Their latest struggle came at the Lexus Classic in Fresno, Calif., this week, where they finished last out of 17 teams. Top-ranked Cal won in commanding fashion, finishing at 43 under par.
“Cal is probably the best college team I have ever seen,” said Utah head coach Randall McCracken. “I have never seen anything like it.”
The No. 1 Golden Bears set a school record by winning the seventh of eight tournaments they’ve competed in this season. Fresno State finished second at six under par.
Sophomore Gentry Hicks was the lone standout for Utah, finishing 35 out of 104 individuals with a team-best score of three over par.
“I think [Hicks] just got tired of playing bad, to tell you the truth,” McCracken said. “Those are the kind of scores we should be seeing out of Gentry or lower on a regular basis.”
While Hicks performed well, the rest of Utes had their struggles. Brandon Kida played poorly in the first round and finished with a score of 227. Daniel Engle scored 224 and Joe Weber came up with a final tally of 232. Ben Bankhead and Brent Pollock were new additions to the travel roster and finished with a 231 and 242, respectively.
“I feel sorry for the guys,” McCracken said. “I know they want to go out and perform well. I know for a fact they are much better players than this. They know that they are better players than this.”
There are a wide range of factors which might be contributing to the Utes’ struggles. They have had to practice indoors because of the cold, and the team is quite young. Nine of the 13 players on the roster are freshmen and sophomores. This might help in the years to come, but for now this season is dragging on for the floundering Utes.
McCracken made reference to particular parts on the course where his players seem to struggle the most.
“Mainly, it’s coming down to the short game, the putting and those in-between shots,” McCracken said. “We haven’t hit enough of them since November.”
Utah doesn’t have much time to prepare for its next event, the San Diego State University Invitational, which will take place next Monday and Tuesday. The SDSU Invitational is one of three final tournaments before the Pac-12 Championship Tournament in Los Angeles.