Utah Golf Tied for 25th After Day One of NCAA Championships

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Javier Barcos and Braxton Watts posted the best scores for the University of Utah men’s golf team, which currently sits in a tie for 25th at the conclusion of day one of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships, which got underway with 18 holes on Friday at the Omni La Costa North Course in Carlsbad, Calif.
 
“We had a rough day,” said coach Garrett Clegg. “We just never got things going in the right direction. Hopefully, we learned a lot and can improve tomorrow.”
 
Watts and Barcos both got off to difficult starts on the back nine, though Watts rebounded with a birdie on the par-5 18th to end the first half of his day at 2-over. He would record one more red score on the par-4 fifth, before entering the clubhouse at 3-over for the day and owning a share of 63rd.
 
Barcos shook off his own challenging start to finish strong, birdieing the fifth and six holes before rattling off pars on each of his final three chances. The senior from Estella, Spain was even on the back nine before ending the day even with Watts at 3-over in 63rd.
 
Gabriel Palacios also had his strongest showing during the second half of his round, putting up red numbers on the second and sixth holes and finishing the competition’s first day at 5-over and tied for 97th. Sergio Jimenez is 7-over and sharing 125th, while Brandon Robison is in 150th. As a team, the Utes ended the round at 19-over.

Virginia and Arizona are both tied at the top of the leaderboard at 2-over, one stroke ahead of third-place North Carolina. Georgia Tech is 4-over and in fourth, while Illinois and Auburn are sharing fifth. Georgia Tech’s Hiroshi Tai is 5-under, the tournament’s lowest individual score so far.

 

Up Next

One more day of competition remains and if the Utes can maintain their standing within the top five, they’ll earn a ticket to the NCAA Championships.

 

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