Gaucho Invitational Provides Utah Golf a Chance to Stay Hot

2024 Gaucho Invitational
Date: April 8 – 9
Location: Sandpiper Golf Club | Goleta, Calif.
Par/Yardage: Par-72, 7,159 yards
Live Scoring: smartgolf.online

THIS WEEK

The University of Utah men’s golf team spent the last week of March putting together two excellent showings, taking fourth at The Duck Invite and second at The Goodwin, the latter of which saw Braxton Watts earn the first win of his collegiate career, and the Utes will have the opportunity to continue their run of strong play at the 2024 Gaucho Invitational, a 54-hole event which will be held on Monday and Tuesday at the Sandpiper Golf Club in Goleta, Calif.

 

It has been a while since the Utes traveled to the Goleta and Santa Barbara area for a tournament, the most recent occurrence coming in the spring of 2015, when Utah placed fourth at the UCSB OGIO Invitational. The most recent version of this tournament occurred in 2023 and was won by Utah Valley with a score of 6-over.

 

While the Sandpiper Golf Club will present a new challenge for the Utes, they have found success playing in California so far in 2023-24. Utah’s first trip to The Golden State was in October at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational. The team’s first round 275 at that tournament still stands as their lowest mark of the season and the Utes’ final score was a 28-under 836 that’s in the top 10 in program history. Sergio Jimenez, Javier Barcos and Davis Johnson all earned spots in the top 15.

 

At The Goodwin in San Francisco, coach Garrett Clegg saw his team put together another impressive showing, taking second place with a score of even par and besting four ranked teams in the process. Utah was led by Watts, who finished 5-under to grab the top spot for the first time as a Ute. In a field of 168 golfers, all five Utes earned spots inside the top 50, including Sergio Jimenez, who tied for 19th, his team-high seventh top 20 finish of 2023-24.

 

UTAH LINE-UP

For the third straight tournament, the Utes will send out a lineup consisting of Braxton Watts, Javier Barcos, Brandon Robison, Gabriel Palacios and Sergio Jimenez.

 

COACHES THOUGHTS: Head Coach Garrett Clegg

“This is a new tournament for us,” said Clegg, “so none of our players have competed on this golf course. We will all have a lot to learn about how it plays. Also for us, it will be important to stay…