Upcoming Event: Men's Golf versus Tindall Invitational on September 22, 2025
Men's Golf
vs Tindall Invitational
Sunday, March 9
Scottsdale, Ariz.
University of Utah
vs
Desert Mountain Collegiate
No. 10 Utah Golf Shines in Final Round, Finishes Second at Desert Mountain
3/9/2025 8:05 PM | Men's Golf
Braxton Watts tied for second place for his best finish of the season
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The No. 10 University of Utah Men's Golf team wrapped up the Desert Mountain Collegiate with its best round of the tournament, shooting 8-under to finish in second place. The Utes were led by senior Braxton Watts who posted his lowest score of the season while settling into a tie for second place on the individual leaderboard.
"I'm super excited for Braxton," head coach Garrett Clegg said. "He has not had a season of golf up to his standards and he was awesome this week. It's a big deal for our team to get him playing at a high level and for him to finish second this week was outstanding! We have a lot of great golf in this team so when we don't play our best as a collective group, it's hard to feel great about a tournament. There are a lot of lessons we hopefully took from this week that will help us in the future."
Utah used its strongest round of the tournament across the final 18 holes as four of the five golfers earned scores equal or better than the previous best round of the tournament. The Utes' 8-under performance in the final round marks the lowest third-round score by every team but Grand Canyon and Minnesota (8-under), sitting as one of three teams to finish under par. Across the entire tournament, the Utes shot 6-under, just five strokes out of first place.
Watts shined on the course to conclude the tournament, responding from his 6-over second round with exceptional mental toughness to post a 6-under final round. The senior got things started with two straight even marks before running into a bogey on the third hole. Two holes later, Watts captured a birdie to level out his score before drilling an eagle and a birdie to move into the back nine 3-under. After three consecutive even scores, Watts recorded another bogey but followed it up with four straight red marks to finish 6-under for the round and 9-under for the tournament. This effort was the lowest third round of all 91 golfers in the tournament. It's Watts' best finish of the season and the most strokes under par of his career.
Another Ute who finished inside the top 15 was Gabriel Palacios, tying his first-round score to jump two spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 14th. The sophomore ran into trouble right away, scoring a double bogey on the first hole of the course before finishing the front nine with a trio of birdies and a pair of bogeys to reduce his score to 1-over. The back nine also began with a double bogey but two birdies and an eagle across the final six holes put Palacios under par at 1-under for the round and the tournament.
Sergio Jimenez put together his best round of the tournament to finish even with par and climb four spots in a tie for 17th. For his final round of golf, Jimenez started with two even marks before tallying three straight birdies to quickly move 3-under. Once moving into the back nine, Jimenez quick scored a bogey but came back with back-to-back birdies two holes later. Across the final four holes, Jimenez caught a pair of bogeys to finish 2-under for the round.
Brandon Robison matched his first-round score of 1-over to rank tied for 28th and finish 4-over. The junior opened play with an even mark before running into two bogeys on the next three holes. After hitting five straight even marks, Robison hit back-to-back birdies in the back nine but immediately caught a pair of double bogeys across the next three holes. Robison finished the tournament well, sinking an eagle on the 16th holes before grabbing a birdie on the final hole.
Davis Johnson hit back-to-back birdies three holes into the final round but also scored a bogey to head 1-under into the back nine. The second half of the course opened up well, hitting a birdie to improve his score to two strokes under par. However, the redshirt junior hit three bogeys in the final six holes to finish 1-over with sole possession of 31st overall.
Individual Peter Jung shot the ball well in the final two rounds after a tough first round, shooting 3-over for the day and 16-over for the tournament.
NEXT UP
The Utes will take only a week off before heading back down to the Grand Canyon State for the Arizona Thunderbird Collegiate in Tucson, Arizona. The two-day tournament will cover 54-holes over March 17-18.
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 (X: @UtesGolf | Instagram: @UtesGolf).
"I'm super excited for Braxton," head coach Garrett Clegg said. "He has not had a season of golf up to his standards and he was awesome this week. It's a big deal for our team to get him playing at a high level and for him to finish second this week was outstanding! We have a lot of great golf in this team so when we don't play our best as a collective group, it's hard to feel great about a tournament. There are a lot of lessons we hopefully took from this week that will help us in the future."
Utah used its strongest round of the tournament across the final 18 holes as four of the five golfers earned scores equal or better than the previous best round of the tournament. The Utes' 8-under performance in the final round marks the lowest third-round score by every team but Grand Canyon and Minnesota (8-under), sitting as one of three teams to finish under par. Across the entire tournament, the Utes shot 6-under, just five strokes out of first place.
Watts shined on the course to conclude the tournament, responding from his 6-over second round with exceptional mental toughness to post a 6-under final round. The senior got things started with two straight even marks before running into a bogey on the third hole. Two holes later, Watts captured a birdie to level out his score before drilling an eagle and a birdie to move into the back nine 3-under. After three consecutive even scores, Watts recorded another bogey but followed it up with four straight red marks to finish 6-under for the round and 9-under for the tournament. This effort was the lowest third round of all 91 golfers in the tournament. It's Watts' best finish of the season and the most strokes under par of his career.
Another Ute who finished inside the top 15 was Gabriel Palacios, tying his first-round score to jump two spots on the leaderboard into a tie for 14th. The sophomore ran into trouble right away, scoring a double bogey on the first hole of the course before finishing the front nine with a trio of birdies and a pair of bogeys to reduce his score to 1-over. The back nine also began with a double bogey but two birdies and an eagle across the final six holes put Palacios under par at 1-under for the round and the tournament.
Sergio Jimenez put together his best round of the tournament to finish even with par and climb four spots in a tie for 17th. For his final round of golf, Jimenez started with two even marks before tallying three straight birdies to quickly move 3-under. Once moving into the back nine, Jimenez quick scored a bogey but came back with back-to-back birdies two holes later. Across the final four holes, Jimenez caught a pair of bogeys to finish 2-under for the round.
Brandon Robison matched his first-round score of 1-over to rank tied for 28th and finish 4-over. The junior opened play with an even mark before running into two bogeys on the next three holes. After hitting five straight even marks, Robison hit back-to-back birdies in the back nine but immediately caught a pair of double bogeys across the next three holes. Robison finished the tournament well, sinking an eagle on the 16th holes before grabbing a birdie on the final hole.
Davis Johnson hit back-to-back birdies three holes into the final round but also scored a bogey to head 1-under into the back nine. The second half of the course opened up well, hitting a birdie to improve his score to two strokes under par. However, the redshirt junior hit three bogeys in the final six holes to finish 1-over with sole possession of 31st overall.
Individual Peter Jung shot the ball well in the final two rounds after a tough first round, shooting 3-over for the day and 16-over for the tournament.
NEXT UP
The Utes will take only a week off before heading back down to the Grand Canyon State for the Arizona Thunderbird Collegiate in Tucson, Arizona. The two-day tournament will cover 54-holes over March 17-18.
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 (X: @UtesGolf | Instagram: @UtesGolf).
Players Mentioned
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