ST. GEORGE—Utah Valley sophomore
Brady McKinlay is tied for the lead after one round of play at the Pizza Hut Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational after carding an opening round score of 7-under par 65 on Saturday at Sunbrook Golf Club in St. George. The Wolverines sit in second place in the 12-team field at 17-under-par 271—the second-lowest round in UVU history.
"It felt great to be competing again," said Utah Valley head coach
Chris Curran. "The guys played very well. Our game plan was to be in contention after round one and that's exactly what we did. Brady went lights out to finish his round."
Utah Valley (-17) has four players in the top-10 after one round of play in southern Utah. The Wolverines are all alone in second place, only four shots behind first round leader Utah (-21). Southern Utah is in third place at 6-under, followed by Weber State (-2) in fourth and Sacramento State (E) fifth. Oral Roberts (+1) is in sixth, followed by Dixie State (+2) and Utah State (+2) tied for seventh, Northern Colorado (+7) ninth, Air Force (+10) 10th, SIU Edwardsville (+19) 11th, and North Dakota (+28) 12th.
The 17-under par 271 is the second-lowest round in UVU history and the lowest round in head coach
Chris Curran's 10-year career with the Wolverines. The lowest round in UVU history was a 269 in the second round of the Agua Caliente Air Force Invitational during the 2007-08 season.
McKinlay recorded two eagles and six birdies with eight pars for his 7-under par 65. The sophomore shot a 6-under par 30 on the front nine. McKinlay is tied for the top spot in the 81-player field with Utah's Blake Tomlinson.
UVU's
Gabe Lysen isn't far behind after shooting a 4-under par 68 in round one. Lysen is tied for sixth after carding five birdies and 12 pars during the opening round.
Kai Iguchi and
Joseph Glenn are each tied for 10th after each shooting 3-under par 69. Iguchi had seven birdies on the day, while Glenn recorded four.
Zane Loveland shot a 1-over par 73 and is tied for 31st. The senior tallied four birdies with 10 pars on the day.
Caden Weber carded a first-round score of 1-over par 69 as tied for 23rd. Weber's score does not count as part of UVU's team score as he is playing as an individual. Weber recorded three birdies and 13 pars. Yeates, who is also playing as an individual, is tied for 62nd after shooting a 6-over-par 78.
Utah Valley will continue play at the Pat Hicks Invitational on Sunday. The Wolverines will tee off at 10 a.m. (MT). Live scoring is available at GolfStat.com.
