Tough opening tournament for men’s golf

Golf is back in full swing after a long, hot summer break. The UVU men’s golf team took to Colorado to play in the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational for 54 holes of fun, challenging golf. 

Round One

The Wolverines finished the first round of 18 on the bottom end of the leaderboard sitting at 16 out of 18. Senior Gabe Lysen had the best finish out of his other four teammates carding a 4-over-par 74. Junior Jake Bryson and sophomore Tanner Johnson were right on Lysen’s tail, each carding a 75. The overall leader at the end of day one came from the University of Wyoming. Sophomore Carl Underwood carded an impressive 5-under-par 65.

“First tournament jitters were definitely a factor for us today,” said UVU head coach Chris Curran. “We had a decent round going before falling apart on the final four holes. We need to limit mistakes and go put together a solid round tomorrow.”

Round Two 

UVU dropped a spot to No. 17 with an overall score of 608 at the end of day two. Bryson continued to have a strong performance — shooting 1-over-par 73 — the best score from a Wolverine so far. He finished the day tied for 49.The overall leader after 36 holes came from a fellow Utah school. Southern Utah University junior Jake Vincent carded a 4-under-par 68 in round one and a 6-under-par 66 in round two. His team, on the other hand, sat at 11 after two rounds. 

Final Round

Sunday fun-day may not have been the attitude of the UVU golfers, as they found themselves in last place after 54 holes of golf. Bryson once again found himself with the best round on the team, this time improving from his previous round as he carded 2-under-par 70. 

“Jake had a solid week,” said Curran. “The rest of the guys really struggled. This course will expose your weaknesses.” 

The five Wolverines scored as follows from best score of the weekend to worst: Jake Byrson shooting 218, Tanner Johnson with 230, Gabe Lysen 231, freshman Kai Iguchi carded 241 and junior Aaron Yeates at 245. 

The Winners

The Cinderella story came from the University of Colorado. The Pac-12 Buffalos started the week in fourth place with a score of 288, just nine shots behind first place. After 36 holes, CU jumped up to second place, improving their team score by a whopping 10 strokes — just two strokes behind the leader. The Buffalos clinched the win with a final round of 288. Two players shot under par for the round while two others shot just 1-over-par on the day.

The Wolverines will head back to Colorado to play in the Ram Masters Invitational on Sept. 16-17, at Fort Collins Country Club in Fort Collins, Colo. They only look to improve from here after a difficult opening tournament.

Photo courtesy of UVU Athletics