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Engle Leads Utes to Seventh Place at Talking Stick; Weber Finishes 20th

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Junior Daniel Engle shot a one-under 69 to tie for second place while leading the Utah golf team to a seventh-place showing at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic Tuesday. Utah shot an even-par 280 in the final round, improving 28 strokes from Monday’s opening-round 308 in the weather-shortened event. Engle’s second-place finish was a career best. His final-round 69 was a career-best by the number and tied his career best in relation to par at one-under. Engle finished the tournament with an even-par 140 after posting a one-over 71 on Monday. Every Ute improved from Monday’s windy opening round, with three Utah players besting their own score by at least ten strokes. Sophomore Brandon Kida shot a 69 Tuesday to tie his career-low round and earn his second top-25 finish of the season, tying for 25th with a 147 (78-69). Junior Casey Halliday carded a 149 (77-72), while freshman Jonathon Thomas improved 10 strokes on Tuesday for a final score of 154 (82-72). Junior Ben Bankhead bounced back impressively, shooting an even-par 70 on Tuesday to finish with a 155 after an opening-round 85. “It was a great tournament for us,” said head coach Randall McCracken. “Finishing seventh out of 24 teams feels great. Monday was a tough day, with winds blowing at an excess of 50 mph. But the guys really did a great job of hanging in there, through hard conditions, and putting us in a nice position at the end of the first day. I think their performance yesterday was even more impressive than their performance on Tuesday.” It was the fourth top-10 of the year for the Utes, who had their best showing since posting a third-place finish at the UTEP Invitational in October. The team’s even-par 280 on Tuesday marked its best round since registering an even-par final round in that tournament as well. Monday’s second round was cancelled due to high winds, shortening the event to just 36 holes.

Weber State shot a two-round total of 604 and finished in 20th place.
The Wildcats shot 312 in the opening round on a highly windy day Monday. The high winds slowed play throughout the day, which eventually forced the cancellation of the second round. On Tuesday, WSU was 20 shots better, shooting 292.
Gonzaga shot a total of 574 to earn the team title, finishing six shots clear of Colorado. UC Santa Barbara’s Glen Scher shot rounds of 70 and 68 to win individual medalist honors. Scher was the lone player in the field to break par for the tournament.
Jeff Jones led Weber State for the second-straight tournament. The senior opened the tournament with an impressive 73 in Monday’s windy conditions, the sixth best round of the day. Jones slid into a tie for 14th on Tuesday, despite improving with a second-round 71 for a total of 144.
Jordan Herzog shot rounds of 79 and 70 to tie for 40th overall at 149, while Colton Dallimore shot 154 to tie for 80th. Matt Wahlen tied for 100th place at 158, while Michael Johnson tied for 121st with a total of 165.