Utah Golf Concludes Season at NCAA Championships, Watts Earns Playoff Spot

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Braxton Watts’ fantastic finish earned him the chance to participate in a playoff on Monday for a spot on the final day of stroke play, while the University of Utah men’s golf team concluded its 2023-24 season by placing 25th on day three of the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships, which continued with day three at the Omni La Costa North Course in Carlsbad, Calif. 
 
“It’s never easy to qualify for the NCAA Championships,” said coach Garrett Clegg. “This group did an outstanding job earning their spot in this event.  They were great. Javier was able to finish his career the last week of the year in college golf. It has been a really cool year and a fun one to coach!”
 
The final round of Utah’s campaign saw them shoot 17-over and finish the competition with an overall score of 45-over. This brings to an end a season in which the Utes returned to the NCAA Championships for the second time in three seasons, the first time they’ve reached the national stage twice in a three year span since 1948 – 50.
 
Watts recorded Utah’s lowest score for the second straight round, thanks in large part to late charge on the front nine. The junior from Farmington, Utah started his day with a birdie on the par-5 10^th, but encountered a few difficult holes soon after, first on the back nine, then again after the turn, but he got back untracked soon after.
 
He earned a place in Monday’s playoff first by birdieing the fourth. Then, after a par and a bogey, he put up another red score on the par-4 seventh and closed out his afternoon with another birdie on the par-4 ninth, bumping him up to 27^th, where he finished even with Clemson’s Andrew Swanson and Duke’s Ethan Evans. With two spots up for grabs, this trio will compete in a three-hole playoff on Monday for the chance to participate in the tournament’s final 18 holes of stroke play.
 
“Braxton has been outstanding this week,” said Clegg, “and hopefully has one more round. Tomorrow he will participate in a playoff with three golfers for two spots and if he can get through that, he will be the third golfer in five years to play all four rounds of stroke play at the NCAA Championships. He has been awesome this week and it would be great to get him through!”
 
Gabriel Palacios also put up a strong showing on Sunday, collecting 13 pars and adding a birdie on the…