Utah Golf Leads Field at Showdown in the Rockies

Monday, September 17

Driggs, ID

All Day

University of Utah

Showdown in the Rockies

Utah Golf Leads Field at Showdown in the Rockies

9/17/2018 10:26 PM | Men's Golf

First and Second Round Results

Utes in first place after nearly two rounds of play in Idaho

DRIGGS, Idaho – The Utah men's golf team leads the field following nearly two rounds of play at the Utes' inaugural event, the Showdown in the Rockies. The two-day event is being held at Huntsman Springs Golf Course in Driggs, Idaho.

Utah carded the best round of the day to open the event, registering a score of 9-under par (279) on the 7,613-yard, par-72 course. The second round was nearly completed late Monday night but was halted due to darkness. The Utes, along with Oregon State and Texas Tech who are in second and third places respectively, will complete the second round before the final round of play begins on Tuesday.

"I am very proud of the way our guys battled today," said Utah head coach Garrett Clegg. "We were still sloppy and careless at times and we will need to tighten those areas up if we are going to have a chance at winning tomorrow. We are competing against very high quality teams. Oregon State has two really good freshmen this year and are a much improved program. Texas Tech is as good a program there is in the country and was a perennial top-15 team last year. The fact that we are battling with them right now says a lot about where our program is at the moment."

Utah leads the 10-team field currently at 11-under par. Oregon State is currently at 6-under par, while Texas Tech comes in at 5-under par. Saint Mary's (-4) is in fourth place, while Arizona (+1) rounds out the top-five teams following Monday's play.

Senior Kyler Dunkle had a terrific day out on the links, posting 6-under par (66) during his first round of play, and is 2-under with one hole left of the second round. Dunkle is currently in second place and is just one stroke behind current leader Spencer Tibbits from Oregon State. Dunkle went the first 18 holes without marking a bogey on his scorecard and leads the field with 13 birdies thus far.

Sophomore Blake Tomlinson notched back-to-back rounds of 2-under par (70) to sit in a tie for fourth place heading into Tuesday's final round of play. Tomlinson began the first round 3-over on the front nine, but recorded 5-under on the back nine to complete the first round.

"Kyler was phenomenal today," Clegg said. "He played absolutely great golf and was lights out for our team. Blake had a terrible opening nine holes and then was 7-under for his final 27 holes so that was great playing by him to turn things around."

Sophomore Jordan Costello and freshman Axel Einarsson are tied for 17^th place with scores of 2-over par. Costello opened the event shooting 4-under par (68) but struggled to find a rhythm during the second round and registered 6-over par (78) to close out the day. Einarsson shot 3-over par (75) in the first round and is currently 1-under par with one hole left of the second round. Einarsson notched Utah's first hole-in-one of the season on the No. 8 par-3 hole, sinking the ball from 200-yards out.

Sophomore Tristan Mandur rounded out Utah's five-man team heading into the final round in a tie for 51^st place (+11, 155). Mandur recorded a first-round score of 8-over par (80) and followed with a second round score of 3-over par (75).

Playing as individuals at the Showdown in the Rockies, junior Mitchell Schow sits in a tie for 26^th place at 4-over par (148) after notching back-to-back rounds of 2-over par (74).

Junior Peyton Hastings is tied for 49^th place (+10, 154) following rounds of 9-over par (81) and 1-over par (73). Freshman Jonathan Wijono posted rounds of 7-over par (79) and 4-over par (76) to sit in a tie for 51^st place. Redshirt freshman Colton Tanner is in 59^th place (+19, 163) after carding rounds of 9-over par (81) and 10-over par (82).

Utah will close out its inaugural event beginning Tuesday morning at the Huntsman Springs Golf Course. Live stats are available at GolfStat.com.