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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Golf Prepares For MWC Championships
5/4/2010 12:00 AM | Men's Golf
May 4, 2010
2010 MWC Championships Day 1 Pairings 
SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah men's golf team will travel to Tucson, Ariz., for third straight year for the 2010 Mountain West Conference Men's Golf Championship. The 54-hole tournament will be played Thursday-Saturday, May-6-8, on the par 71, 7,144-yard Catalina Course at the OMNI Tucson National Resort. Each round will begin at 7 a.m. PT.
Mike Branca will start things off for the Utes in round one and will tee off at 8:40 a.m. PT, followed by Kaleb Mahanes (8:50 a.m. PT), Derek Adams (9 a.m. PT), Joe Webber (9:10 a.m. PT) and Chase Hite (9:20 a.m. PT).
Utah currently sits in ninth place in the MWC team standings with an individual stroke average of 75.84, a team stroke average of 303.34, and a low round of 276 at the USAFA Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational, that led to a runner-up finish at the event.
The Utes had a total of six top-10 finishes, highlighted by a first-place finish at the Utah/Weber State Purple and Red Invitational Sept. 28-29 at the Valley View Golf Course in Layton, Utah. The Utes were in seventh place after the first day of play and came back to clinch the team title by one shot on the first playoff hole against Arkansas-Little Rock. Utah started the tournament with identical first and second round scores of 291 adding a third round mark of 285 for a total 867, three-over-par.
On the MWC's individual leader board this season, Hite is the highest-competing Ute at 34th place with a 74.10 average over 29 rounds. Mahanes is in 38th while Adams sits in 40th. Webber stands in 43rd, Branca is in 46th.
Hite gave the Utes their lowest round of the season shooting a score of 67. Hite shot the score during third round of his fifth-place-tie at the San Diego State Barona Cup.
Derek Ernst of UNLV and Tom Whitney of Air Force are tied atop the MWC individual leader board with an average of 71.11. Ernst has the lowest round in the conference this season, a 64 during the first round of the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate. UNLV sits in first place on the team leader board with an individual stroke average of 71.54, a team stroke average of 286.14, and a low round of 272 at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate.
Last year at the MWC Tournament, Utah shot a total score of 897 to finish in ninth place. Chance Cota led the Utes, tying for 16th place with a score of 215 at two-over-par. Adams shot a third-round score of 73 for a total score of 220 at seven-over-par, finishing in 33rd place. Mahanes and Hite tied for 37th place with a three-round total of 223 at 10-over-par. Branca ended the tournament in 45th place at 27-over-par with a score of 240.
TCU captured the title last season after defeating San Diego State in a team playoff. Steve Saunders of New Mexico finished first in the individual standings at nine-under-par with a score of 204.
Last week, the Utes competed in the PING Cougar Classic at the Riverside Country Club where they shot a third-round score of 288 to finish 15th with a final score of 890. Webber led the Utes after the final round, finishing the day tied for 10th place with a score of 214 (71, 72, 71) at two-under par.
Utah will face a competitive field this season as six of the top-10 finishers from the 2009 championship return in 2010, led by Tom Hoge and Johan de Beer of TCU. The 2010 MWC Championship features five teams ranked in the Top 50 of the latest Golfstat rankings, including No. 13 UNLV, No. 24 TCU, No. 30 San Diego State, No. 35 Colorado State and No. 46 New Mexico.
Live hole-by-hole scoring of the entire tournament will be available at GolfStat.com. Score cards, results, recaps, photos, video interviews and more can be found at the 2010 MWC Men's Golf Championship Central Page.
Players Mentioned
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