Black leads golfers in Air Force tourney
Led by sophomore Brett Black, the Utah State golf team started its season off with a 10th place finish at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitationl in Colorado Springs, Colo., over the weekend.
“I think that we did OK, obviously we would have liked to have placed better,” coach Dean Johansen said. “But we did well for the first tournament of the year and under the circumstances.”
The Aggies’ top player, junior Cody Hout, struggled with bronchitis through the weekend and sophomore Jared Humphries played in his first collegiate tournament.
“However, I was really pleased by the play of Brett Black,” Johansen said. “He played well for us when Cody was struggling with heath problems, and he posted some great scores when we needed it most.”
Black began the tournament Friday morning when he posted a career-best 3-under-par 69, followed by a second round 2-over-par 74 for a combined score of 1-under-par 143, putting him in a tie for fourth place after the first day of competition.
On Saturday, Black shot a final round even-par 72, giving him sole possession of fourth place, just six shots behind individual champion Jeff Franks of Wyoming.
The Aggies entered Saturday’s final round in 12th place in the 15 team field. They shot their best round of the tournament moving up two spots, passing Colorado Springs and Idaho State, during the final round with a score of 292.
Other notable Aggie performances included Humphries, who shot a final round 1-over-par 73 to finish at 225 in his first collegiate tournament, tied for 35th, Jake Blair who matched Black’s final round with an even-par 72 to finish with a 227 in 45th, Hout finished 62nd with a 232 and Preston Otte whose 234 was good for 69th.
SUU won the tournament with a score of 869, five shots ahead of second place Boise State.
“I expect better things from this team in the future,” Johansen said. “We are still relatively young and should only improve from here on out.”
The Aggies are back in action Sept. 27-28 in a tournament hosted by the University of Denver.
-matthewsteed@cc.usu.edu