Ready, set – golf
Temperatures are in the high 70s, the grass is green, and all the wind that was supposed to stretch through the entire spring came and passed last weekend.
It’s time for Utah State’s golf team members to grab their dusty golf bags from the garage and hope all the winter carpet putting will prove valuable this season.
Utah State’s golf team just finished taking swings against some of the nation’s top competition in Lompoc, Calif. The Pacific Coast Intercollegiate tournament began with two rounds on Monday, the conclusion on Tuesday.
The two-day tournament was held at the La Purisima Golf Course, and was hosted by UC Santa Barbara.
The Aggies finished 18th on the first day, with Devin Daniels as Monday’s top performer. Daniels tied for 45th out of all participants at the end of the day. He finished the two rounds shooting a 78 and a 75.
That 76.50 average is just a notch above Daniels’ average last fall.
Cody Huot, who was USU’s leader in the fall with a 73.41 average, got off to an uneasy start, shooting an 82 in the first round. Huot then found his shot again, and improved to hit a 75 in the closing round of the day. The sophomore from Brigham City ended the day tied for 67th overall.
Marcus Myers ranked third among the Aggies Monday, finishing with scores of 79 and 80. Myers will hope to improve on a 77.83 average last fall.
Preston Otte had the best first round of any Aggie in the first round, with a score of 76. But Otte went cold in the second round, adding 10 points to his score to finish with an 86.
Otte expects to hit at least in the 76 range this spring and cannot afford to have second rounds like he did Monday, if he wants to improve on his fall average of 76.50.
Rounding out the five USU team members who played Monday is Ryan Worthy, a freshman who also resides in Brigham City.
Worthy did not play with the team last fall, so Monday’s event was the first time Worthy has competed as an Aggie.
His inexperience showed, as he shot for a combined score of 179, an average just a shade below 90.
Next up for Utah State is the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, in Scottsdale, Ariz. on April 12 and 13.
After that, USU comes back to Utah, to compete in BYU’s Cougar Classic on April 23 and 24 in Provo.
The spring season will conclude with a trip to San Margarita, Calif.
There, Utah State Head Coach Dean Johansen will try to lead his team to a Big West conference tournament championship.
-bcb@cc.usu.edu