LIHUE, Kaia’i – Two Utes sit inside the top 15 and the University of Utah men’s golf team is alone in fifth place in a field of 20 teams with one round of play in the books at the John Burns Intercollegiate, which got underway with 18 holes on Thursday at the Ocean Course Hokula in Lihue, Kaia’i, Hawaii.
As a team, the Utes crafted their third-best score of the 2023-24 campaign and finished 9-under, putting them just a single stroke out of second place. The list of teams Utah will enter round two ahead of includes No. 19 California and No. 24 Texas A&M.
Braxton Watts didn’t record a single score higher than par on Thursday and played his best golf on the front nine. The sophomore from Farmington, Utah was 3-under over the first nine holes and added two more birdies on the par-4 12th and the par-4 18th, finishing with a 67 that goes down as his lowest score of the season so far. Watts is currently set to begin round two in a tie for fifth and three shots off the lead.
Gabriel Palacios also carded his best mark of the season over the opening 18 holes, shooting a 3-under 67 that landed him in a tie for 12th. Palacios was also razor sharp on the front nine, tallying two birdies and an eagle on the par-5 fourth to fuel his charge up the leaderboard. He’ll be trying to continue moving up and break a deadlock he’s in with nine other players on Friday.
Joining his teammates in the red was Sergio Jimenez, who rattled off a team-high six birdies in round one, including a stretch of three-in-a-row on holes 10-12. Jimenez posted birdies on the third, fourth and eighth holes as well on his way to entering the clubhouse 2-under. The freshman from Madrid, Spain is sharing 22nd. Javier Barcos had a strong conclusion to the day and is among a group of players with a share of 62nd, while Brandon Robison is tied for 89th.
Go Nakatsukasa is competing as an individual and is one of the players even with Jimenez in 22nd. Nakatasukasa piled up four birdies in a six hole span on the front nine and concluded the afternoon with a 2-under 70. Fellow individual Davis Johnson is tied for 70th.
Next Up
Day two of the John Burns Intercollegiate will encompass round two of the tournament with another 18 holes.
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