Upcoming Event: Men's Golf versus The Wohali on September 15, 2025
Men's Golf
vs The Wohali
Monday, May 12
Bremerton, Wash.
University of Utah
vs
NCAA Regionals
Utah Golf Battles on Day One at Bremerton Regional
5/12/2025 3:58 PM | Men's Golf
Gabriel Palacios put together a phenomenal first round to sit in a tie for second
BREMERTON, Wash. – Gabriel Palacios used a late burst to spur the University of Utah Men's Golf team forward on Monday as the Utes sit in sixth, just four strokes out of the top three through the first round of play at the Bremerton Regional.
"The course is playing great. It's really challenging and there's not a lot of separation so we're fine after the first 18 holes," head coach Garrett Clegg said. "We played poorly in the beginning, but had a great stretch for a while, but then we just didn't quite hang on to everything at the end. We'll just have to clean it up tomorrow. We're used to having one or two players play really, really well each day, so there's no surprise Gabriel (Palacios) had a great day. We all kind of expect it when he does, but it's a huge deal for us. You need to have those performances in order to make it to the NCAA Championships so we're going to need a couple of guys to step up. It'll be fun to see who does it."
Palacios opened the regional with a birdie on the first hole to quickly sit one stroke under par. After a trio of even marks, the sophomore recorded a bogey but came back with a birdie on the ensuing hole. Palacios tallied a double bogey on the next hole to finish the front nine 1-over. The Ute posted an exceptional start to the back nine with four birdies across the first five holes to improve his score to 3-under. Palacios finished with four even scores to shoot 3-under for the round and in a tie for third place.
Braxton Watts also shined on the course on Monday, opening play with a birdie but quickly responding with a bogey on the following hole to move back to even. The senior leader then posted five consecutive even scores before tallying another birdie to sit 1-over through the front nine. Onto the back nine, Watts drilled a birdie on the fourteenth hole and added another bogey and birdie across the remaining three holes to sit even and in a tie for 14th.
Brandon Robison got off to a slow start but quickly leveled out throughout the day. The junior started things off with two bogeys through the first three holes but responded with back-to-back red marks two holes later to sit even through six holes. After another bogey to finish the front nine, Robison added one more of each to finish 1-over and in a tie for 24th.
Sergio Jimenez posted seven consecutive even scores to start play before running into a bogey to move into the back nine 1-over. The sophomore grabbed his first birdie two holes into the back nine but couldn't maintain any momentum throughout the remainder of the course, finishing with a double bogey and three bogeys to shoot 5-over for the day and in a tie for 52th.
Davis Johnson had a hard time finding success early, tallying a triple bogey, a double bogey, and a bogey on the front nine to sit 6-over through nine holes. On the back end, Johnson recorded a double bogey and three bogeys with a pair of birdies to shoot 9-over for the day and in a tie for 68th.
NEXT UP
The second round of the NCAA Regionals will take place tomorrow morning at Gold Mountain Golf Club with the Utes teeing off at 9 A.M. MT.
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)
"The course is playing great. It's really challenging and there's not a lot of separation so we're fine after the first 18 holes," head coach Garrett Clegg said. "We played poorly in the beginning, but had a great stretch for a while, but then we just didn't quite hang on to everything at the end. We'll just have to clean it up tomorrow. We're used to having one or two players play really, really well each day, so there's no surprise Gabriel (Palacios) had a great day. We all kind of expect it when he does, but it's a huge deal for us. You need to have those performances in order to make it to the NCAA Championships so we're going to need a couple of guys to step up. It'll be fun to see who does it."
Palacios opened the regional with a birdie on the first hole to quickly sit one stroke under par. After a trio of even marks, the sophomore recorded a bogey but came back with a birdie on the ensuing hole. Palacios tallied a double bogey on the next hole to finish the front nine 1-over. The Ute posted an exceptional start to the back nine with four birdies across the first five holes to improve his score to 3-under. Palacios finished with four even scores to shoot 3-under for the round and in a tie for third place.
Braxton Watts also shined on the course on Monday, opening play with a birdie but quickly responding with a bogey on the following hole to move back to even. The senior leader then posted five consecutive even scores before tallying another birdie to sit 1-over through the front nine. Onto the back nine, Watts drilled a birdie on the fourteenth hole and added another bogey and birdie across the remaining three holes to sit even and in a tie for 14th.
Brandon Robison got off to a slow start but quickly leveled out throughout the day. The junior started things off with two bogeys through the first three holes but responded with back-to-back red marks two holes later to sit even through six holes. After another bogey to finish the front nine, Robison added one more of each to finish 1-over and in a tie for 24th.
Sergio Jimenez posted seven consecutive even scores to start play before running into a bogey to move into the back nine 1-over. The sophomore grabbed his first birdie two holes into the back nine but couldn't maintain any momentum throughout the remainder of the course, finishing with a double bogey and three bogeys to shoot 5-over for the day and in a tie for 52th.
Davis Johnson had a hard time finding success early, tallying a triple bogey, a double bogey, and a bogey on the front nine to sit 6-over through nine holes. On the back end, Johnson recorded a double bogey and three bogeys with a pair of birdies to shoot 9-over for the day and in a tie for 68th.
NEXT UP
The second round of the NCAA Regionals will take place tomorrow morning at Gold Mountain Golf Club with the Utes teeing off at 9 A.M. MT.
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
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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