The Utes finished fourth out of nine teams with a score of 22 over par in the Utah Invitational at Jeremy Ranch Golf Course Tuesday, and Utah was frustrated with the results.
“It’s disappointing to not win your own home event,” said head coach Randall McCracken.
Utah was tied with Boise State in fourth place at the beginning of the third round. From there, the Broncos went on to win the tournament while the Utes remained stagnant.
“We need to take it hole by hole rather than looking at the big picture trying to win,” said senior Casey Halliday.
Halliday started off his second round with an eagle on the 529 yard par five third hole. He ended that round at one under par. It was a step in the right direction compared to his previous first round of four over par.
Utah shot their lowest core in the second round, led by sophomore Jonathon Thomas. He had the best round for the Utes in the tournament shooting three under par in his second round. He finished the loop on a tear with birdies on four of the last six holes.
“It’s nice to have someone on the team that is playing well and pushes you to play better,” Halliday said. “We could have done better at putting, it is one of our goals for this season.”
Another problem for the Utes this year has been consistency. Since the beginning of the season, consistency has a team focus, but only two Utah players have been posting low scores on a regular basis.
Thomas and senior Daniel Engle have been leading the team this year, being first and second for the Utes in almost every event. Thomas was the top performer for Utah again with his fifth place finish.
“We really need to get the bottom half of the roster to be more consistent,” McCracken said.
Senior Benjamin Bankhead was able to change his luck on the Utes’ home turf. Bankhead had been struggling early in the season but was able to finish in 11th place — tied with Engle for Utah’s second best result in the tournament.
Utah’s next challenge will be in El Paso, Texas at the UTEP Price’s Give’em 5 Invitational. Last year the team had a chance to win the event but ended up taking third because of a player disqualification. The tournament tees off on Oct. 25.