CARMEL, Calif. – The No. 10-ranked University of Utah Men’s Golf team finished even with par after completing the first round and the front half of the second round before darkness forced play to resume tomorrow at The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate. The Utes currently sit in seventh place on the team leaderboard as Brandon Robison ranks inside the top 10.
 
“It was a tough day for us today, but hopefully we learned a lot from it and will come out tomorrow ready to play” said head coach Garrett Clegg. “Brandon [Robison] has played well and is in a good position. Other than that, we have a lot of work to do.”
 
The Utes got off to a slow start to begin the tournament, falling into the low end of the standings before slowly climbing the ranks as play went on. Despite ranking sixth on the team leaderboard after round one, the Utes fell to seventh place, but only managed to reach the 12th-15th holes in the second round.
 
Robison leads the team on the individual side of things, starting the tournament with a bogey on his second hole before adding three red marks and another bogey across the remaining 16 holes to finish 1-under 71 and in a tie for 12^th place. Robison only played through 12 holes in the second round, posting three birdies on the front nine with a bogey to set up 24 holes left to be played on the final day.
 
Gabriel Palacios began the first round with a birdie to start things off right and added another red mark three holes later on the front nine. To finish out the front nine, Palacios recorded a bogey and added another on the No. 13 to conclude round one level. The sophomore repeated his solid start in round two with another birdie on the opening hole before following it up with a bogey on the next hole with another red mark two holes later. Palacios finished the final six holes with two bogeys and a birdie to jump into a tie for 21^st with five holes remaining in round two.
 
Sergio Jimenez added a colorful front nine to his card, marking the first hole with a bogey and the second hole with a double bogey before finishing out the front nine with birdies on three of his last six holes. The back nine started with another red mark, but a double bogey on the No. 15 hole totaled a 1-over 73 in a tie for 25^th place. Jimenez got the second round started with a bogey on his first hole before tallying two birdies on the front nine and a bogey to open up the back nine, finishing even in round two with six holes left to play while jumping one spot.
 
Braxton Watts and Davis Johnson rounded out the Utes lineup as Watts recorded a 3-over 75 in the first round before shooting 3-over through the first 13 holes in the second round, sitting in a tie for 50^th. Johnson shot a 7-over 79 in the first round and is currently swinging the clubs 2-over 74 with three holes left to play in the second round.
 
Peter Jung represented the Utes as an individual competitor and tallied a strong first day. Jung recorded a birdie on the second hole before two bogeys put him one shot over. An eagle on the No. 8 hole quickly flipped the script back to under par. Two bogeys and a birdie placed Jung even and in a tie for 20^th. In the second round, Jung began with back-to-back birdies before two bogeys, a double bogey, and a birdie finished his second round 1-over with four holes left to play.  
 
NEXT UP
The Utes look to climb the ranks on the final day of play at The Preserve Golf Club with tee time slated for 9:30 a.m. MT. Tomorrow’s final round and completion of round two will be the last golf of the fall season for Utah.
 
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