Aggie golfers draw in dual versus SUU
USU junior Austin French won all three of his matches to lead the Utah State men’s golf team to an 8-5 draw with Southern Utah over the weekend in Cedar City, Utah.
“It was a group effort to get by (with the draw),” said USU coach Dean Johansen.
Johansen explained that after a rough time at the 2010 Purple & Red Invitational at Valley View Golf Club last week – where the team finished 12th in a pool of 16 teams – it was encouraging for his team to rebound with a strong showing in Utah’s Dixie tournament.
“(The draw) was good for the morale of the team,” Johansen said. “We were down after the (Purple & Red Invitational), because we started strong and ended not so strong. It boosts the morale, especially when we finished as strong as we did … it brings a good feel to the team.”
The strong finish specifically came on Sunday, during the second half of the tournament. The Aggies had entered the day trailing Southern Utah 4.5-3.5, but won five of the last nine individual matches to notch the tie.
“Guys knew before they teed off that they were going to win (Sunday),” Johansen said. “We had a couple of guys step up and win big.”
The Aggies needed at least five points for the draw on the second day, and the Aggie golfers didn’t disappoint, with many on the team making critical shots for the win.
Some of the brightest spots for Utah State came from senior Benjamin Schilleman, sophomore Kris Sayer and junior Quinn Jensen, who all defeated their Southern Utah competitors.
The two teams also split a pair of matches on the tournament’s latter day as senior Thad Truman and Greg Kerber played to a draw, as did juniors Chanse Godderidge and Jordan Orth.
On Saturday, USU began solid play with 2.5 points in the first of four best ball matches, sparked by French and Godderidge. The Aggies started the tournament with a 2-0 lead before slipping when the Thunderbirds’ Jake Holt and Denny Job defeated USU seniors Tyson McFarland and Thad Truman. The fourth set was a draw between Sayer and junior Quinn Jensen, played against Southern Utah’s Brock Glasmann and Greg Kerber.
To end the first day of action, SUU surged ahead by taking three of the four points in the four “alternate shot” rounds. French and McFarland scored the only point of that round for the Aggies.
Johansen said the team “struggled a bit” in the first day, because it was hard to get into a rhythm due to “several blind shots” and “lots of local locale (the Aggies) didn’t have (last year),” since the Aggies and Thunderbirds have started playing a home-and-home series. Johansen called the home-and-home series style “special for each team.” The pairing for the tournament was pieced together by Johansen and SUU coach Richard Church seven years ago.
Overall, the series remains deadlocked with three wins apiece and one tie. However, Utah State is now 2-0-1 against the Thunderbirds over the last three years.
“We’ll springboard off this (draw) to next week,” Johansen said of the possible momentum that can be sparked by such a strong back-end showing to complete the tournament.
“It’s great to have a tournament next week so we can keep riding that momentum wave,” he said.
– rhett.wilkinson@aggiemail.usu.edu