Higham wins individual title at BSU Invitational
Utah State senior golfer Tanner Higham placed first in the Dash Thomas Memorial Golf Tournament Monday and Tuesday after he shot a final round 4-under-par 67 – his first ever tournament victory.
Higham is the first golfer from USU to win a tournament outright since 1996.
“There’s been a lot of good golfers at Utah State since then, so it’s a pretty exciting thing and it feels real good,” Higham said.
Higham began the tournament with an even par of 71 before he teed off Tuesday. His 8-under-205 is the best 54-hole score since 2007 when Devin Daniels shot 12-under-par and finished tied for 15th.
“I mean, the last couple tournaments through the summer I’ve been playing well, so I always knew it was a possibility,” Higham said. “It was just if I could put a streak together.”
Higham shot a 10-over-par at the Air Force Invitational Sept. 8-9, but after his last performance, Higham hopes what happened earlier this week will continue for tournaments to come.
“I shot pretty high last tournament, but stroke average-wise, I am pretty close to where I want to be when I started the season, so I’m pretty happy where I am,” he said. “But you can always look for improvement, and that’s what I’m striving for.”
Other members of the USU golf team scored well, giving the team fifth place overall with a 15-over-par. The Aggies played against 12 other colleges Monday and Tuesday, finishing behind Seattle, Cal State Fullerton, Idaho, and tournament champion Sacramento State.
Sophomore Seokwon Jeon finished the tournament tied for 17th place, shooting 4-over-par. Freshman Eli Rogers tied 32nd with a 10-over-par, while junior Graham Schmaltz and sophomore Brennan Coburn rounded out the top-40 by shooting 12-over-par. Freshman Braxton Miller finished tied for 54th with a 17-over-par.
The Aggies’ next tournament is Oct. 10-11 at the Utah Invitational in Salt Lake City.
Top five overall:
Tanner Higham, USU-71-67-67-205 (-8)
Mark Anguiano, Cal State Fullerton-70-70-66-206 (-7)
David Torres, Seattle University-70-69-68-207 (-6)
Rylee Iacolucci, Idaho-65-71-72-208 (-5)
Brayden Eriksen, Utah Valley-68-72-71-211 (-2)