Garrett Clegg is in his seventh season as the head golf coach of the Utah Utes golf program in 2023-24. Under Clegg's command, the Utes have posted a long list of achievements, including earning a spot at the NCAA Championships in 2022, something the program had not achieved since 1988. The Utes also sent individual golfers to regionals in 2021 and 2023, while Kyler Dunkle reached nationals in 2019.
In 2022-23, Clegg helped junior Javier Barcos put together a season that earned him an All-Pac-12 Second-Team spot and a selection to play as an individual at the Morgan Hill Regional. Barcos led his team with a 71.7 stroke average, achieved his first collegiate victory at the Oregon State Invitational and took fourth at the Pac-12 Championships, the second-highest finish ever by a Ute at the Pac-12 Tournament.
In 2021-22, Clegg guided his squad to one of the best seasons in program history and it culminated the club's first trip to the NCAA Championships in nearly 35 years. The Utes finished in the top three in five different tournaments, led by a second-place showing in the Duck Invitational. They also tied for second at the Mark Simpson Collegiate with a performance that included an 18-under 270 in round one, the lowest 18-hole team score on record in program history.
Both the Duck Invitational and Mark Simpson Collegiate represented two of the eight tournaments on the 2021-22 schedule in which Clegg's crew finsihed with a score under par and the last instance came the Norman Regional, where Utah finished 4-under to take fifth place and clinch their spot at nationals. Two members of that 2021-22 team also earned All-Pac-12 recognition, as Blake Tomlinson landed on the all-conference Honorable Mention list and Braxton Watts was a Pac-12 All-Freshman Honorable Mention selection.
Clegg's teams have finished in the top three 11 times, including event wins at the 2017 Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, 2018 Showdown in the Rockies and 2019 Bandon Dunes Championship. Utah's scores at the Pac-12 Championship have consistently improved under Clegg. The Utes tied for fifth place in 2019 for their best finish since joining the league.Â
Despite the 2019-20 season being shortened by the Coronavirus pandemic, Clegg led the Utes to a school record and several strong performances that landed four Utes in the top-10 all-time in single-season lowest scoring average.
In just the second tournament of the fall, the Utes shattered the school record for lowest 54-hole team score at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate, shooting 825 (15-under) as a group. The previous record of 840 took place at the Cowboy Classic in April of 2008.
As individuals, Utah’s top-four golfers all earned spots in the Utah record books for single-season lowest scoring average, led by seniors Mitchell Schow and Jordan Costello. Schow is tied for fourth in program history after shooting a 71.6 in 2019-20 with Costello ranking seventh (71.8). Seven of the top 10 spots in Utah’s single-season lowest scoring average were coached by Clegg.
Kyler Dunkle became the first Utah golfer since 2006 to reach the NCAA Championship in 2019, finishing tied for 28th for the highest NCAA finish for a Utah golfer in modern history. He finished second at the 2019 Pac-12 Championships for Utah's best individual finish ever at the event and was named second-team All-Pac-12, the first Ute golfer to be named to the team. Dunkle also earned all-region honors. He set the Utah record with three tournament victories over his three seasons (2016-19).
Dunkle and Blake Tomlinson hold three of the four lowest single-season scoring averages in Utah history. Dunkle tied the school record with a 71.2 average in 2018-19, the lowest single-season scoring average by a Utah player since the 2006-07 season. Tomlinson earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors in 2018, becoming the first Ute to be named to any Pac-12 squad. He became Utah's first NCAA Regional qualifier since 2007 that year and finished tied for ninth at the Stockton Regional.
A native of Bountiful, Utah, Clegg made the move back to the Salt Lake City area after serving as head coach for five seasons at Washington State. Under Clegg’s guidance, the Cougars recorded six regular-season tournament titles and 15 top-five finishes.
WSU notched three, top-10 finishes at Pac-12 Championship Tournaments under Clegg, which included a ninth-place finish at the 2016 Championships at The Country Club in Salt Lake City. The Cougars moved up three spots following the first two rounds of play and went on to post its second-lowest stroke total among the five previous championship tournaments under his direction.
Clegg spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Washington. During his time at UW, the men’s program captured back-to-back Pacific-10 Conference titles (2009, 2010) and concluded both seasons with fifth-place finishes at the NCAA Championships. Washington advanced to the NCAA Regionals each of his four seasons and was a three-time qualifier for the NCAA Championships.
While with the Huskies, Clegg helped mentor All-Americans Nick Taylor, Richard Lee, Darren Wallace and Chris Williams. In his four seasons he was involved in all areas of the program including coaching, recruiting, fund-raising and tournament operations with a special emphasis on administrative duties.
Clegg is a former professional and collegiate golfer who competed at Minnesota for two years where he was a part of the 2002 NCAA Championship team before transferring to Utah for his final two seasons. A 2004 graduate of Utah, Clegg was a two-time All-Mountain West Conference selection and placed third in the conference championship tournament in 2003.
During his career with the Utes, he won the 2003 Nevada Wolfpack Invitational and the 2003 UC Riverside Highlander Classic. His two regular-season tournament titles is tied for second all-time in the Ute record books and he is just one of four Utah golfers to register multiple tournament titles since 1990. Clegg's total of 205 (69-68-68) at the Wolfpack Invitational ranks tied for seventh-lowest all-time in a 54-hole event.
Clegg is tied for fourth all-time with five, top-10 finishes in a season and his eight-career top-10 finishes is tied for fourth in school history. He is also one of just eight Utah golfers to qualify for a NCAA Regional Championship. Clegg tied for 81st-place at the 2004 Regional Championship.
Clegg played in the 2003 U.S. Amateur and advanced to the second round of the 2002 U.S. Public Links tournament. As a professional, he played the 2007 season in the Nationwide Tour after finishing fifth in the second stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School.
Clegg and his wife Rachael have three daughters, Grace, Sophie and Chloe, and a son, Brady.
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