Utah Golf Preparing for Final Trip to Pac-12 Championships

2024 Pac-12 Men's Golf Championships
Date: April 26 – 28
Location: Desert Forest Golf Club | Carefree, Ariz.
Par/Yardage: Par 71, 7,203 yards
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
 
THIS WEEK
For the final time in program history, the University of Utah men's golf team is preparing to compete at the Pac-12 Men's Golf Championships, the 2024 edition of which will be a 72-hole event held from April 26 – 28 at the Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree, Arizona.
 
Utah's Javier Barcos is just one year removed from one of the program's best performances at the Pac-12 Tournament. The native of Estella, Spain finished 8-under to take fourth, the second-highest finish ever by a Ute at the conference championships since the program joined the league. He was at his best during round three, carding a 6-under 64 that matched Utah's best round of the 2022-23 campaign. The Utes also played their best golf as a team during round three, shooting the lowest score of the day before finishing the tournament in 11th.
 
The squad's best performance as a team at the Pac-12 Championships occurred in 2019. Led by Kyler Dunkle's 8-under 276, the Utes claimed a share of fifth place, while Dunkle placed second, the best individual finish ever by a Utah golfer at the Pac-12 Championships.
 
UTAH LINE-UP
Braxton Watts, Javier Barcos, Brandon Robison, Gabriel Palacios and Sergio Jimenez will be participating in their fifth straight tournament for the Utes and they'll be joined by Go Nakatsukasa.
 
COACHES THOUGHTS: Head Coach Garrett Clegg
"It is always an honor to compete at the Pac-12 Championships," said Clegg. "We are fortunate to play in a conference that has one of the richest collegiate histories. The golf course will be incredibly challenging and the competition will be the best in the country. We have had a great spring to this point and everyone is excited to get our tournament started on Friday!"
 
THE FIELD
The field of 12 teams in Arizona vying for the conference championship will include several of the nation's best squads, led by No. 4 Arizona State, No. 8 Washington, No. 9 Arizona, No. 23 California, No. 24 Oregon and defending champion Stanford. The Utes will also be battling against Colorado, Washington State, UCLA, USC and Oregon State.
 
TOURNAMENT DETAILS
The Pac-12 Tournament will be a 72-hole, 6-count-5 event will get underway at 7:30 a.m. MT on Friday, with split tee times meaning golfers will also be teeing off at 1:00 p.m. MT on day one. Saturday's third round will begin at 10:00 a.m. MT, while the final 18 holes will get underway at 8:30 a.m. MT on Sunday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
During the spring portion of their season, the Utes have posted a final score of even or under par five times in six tournaments and Barcos, Watts, Robison, Jimenez, Palacios and Nakatsukasa have all collected at least one top 20 finish. Barcos, Robison and Watts have also logged at least one top five finish, with Barcos and Watts winning the program's first two Pac-12 Male Golfer of the Week awards and Watts capturing his first collegiate victory at The Goodwin.
 
Barcos and Palacios were Utah's top two finishers at the team's last event, the Thunderbird Collegiate in Phoenix, with Palacios achieving his highest finish as a member of Utah's lineup. The freshman from Guatemala climbed up the leaderboard into a tie for 19th by shooting a final round 65, the lowest 18-hole score by a Ute so far in 2023-24.
 
Barcos has finished inside the top 20 more than any other Ute so far during his senior season, accomplishing that feat eight times in 11 tournaments. He also leads the squad with 21 scores at or below par, including all three rounds in Phoenix, the best of which was his 2-under 69 to begin the competition. Barcos will be attempting to become the first Ute to ever achieve back-to-back top 10 finishes at the Pac-12 Championships.
 
Utah was 6-under as a team during the final round, tied for fourth-best on Saturday and sixth overall, and the list of ranked squads the Utes finished ahead of included No. 7 Washington, No. 13 Texas Tech and No. 14 Oklahoma.
 
LIVE SCORING
To keep up with all the action, fans can visit Golfstat.com.
 
FOLLOW THE UTES
For an inside look at the Utah Golf program along with tournament, roster and news updates, fans can follow the Utes on social media (Twitter: @UtesGolf | Instagram: @UtesGolf).