News

Reardon Leads Red Storm to Pat Hicks Victory; Casper Medalist

by John Renshaw • [email protected] •
 ST. GEORGE – Taylor Reardon hasn’t had the college golf career he envisioned as a youngster.
The former prep standout at Centennial (Nev.) once had high expectations, but after not getting accepted into the university of his choosing – Boise State – he headed to Dixie State. Unfortunately, he endured even more adversity, suffering a broken hand during freshman year while practicing his swing.
Fast forward to the present. It was only fitting that Reardon’s final round of 66 at Tuesday’s Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invitational led Dixie State (570) to an upset win. The Red Storm beat 11 other schools – 10 of which are Division I programs – including the school that once passed him over as well as the Storm’s northern rival, SUU (tied for seventh at 594).
“It’s kind of ironic,” said Reardon, whose two-day score of 139 solidified his second-place tie with College of Charleston’s Alex Ellis. “This is the second year in a row I’ve finished second in this tournament. And both times Boise State’s been here. É So it’s somewhat gratifying to play well with them at this tournament.”
Utah Valley’s Mason Casper took top billing after an impressive 137. He shot 67-70 to win medalist honors. That leadership helped the Wolverines (576) take third overall with College of Charleston (575) rounding out the top three. In other state schools, Benjamin Schilleman’s 143 (67 76) led Utah State’s seventh-place effort.
DSC also got a strong performance from Kyle Chappell (69, 73-142), who finished in a fourth-place tie. The junior led after day one, but fell off a bit in the final round.
“Kyle’s a very steady competitor,” said DSC coach Reed McArthur. “He just had a few bad holes today. And a lot of our guys went through those stages today, but give them credit. They overcame those struggles and got the win. I’m very proud of our guys today.”
SUU’s performance was less than stellar in what is usually a strong event for them. In the tournament’s  seven-year history, the T-Birds have won it twice and finished second another three times.
“Honestly, I’m disappointed with our performance,” said SUU coach Richard Church. “I know it’s our first tournament of the spring, but that’s no excuse. I expected us to play better.
“What I am pleased with was our ability to come back from a very poor first round.”
Jeff Evans (74-70-144), who hit five consecutive birdies, led the T-Birds’ second-place finish.
For Reardon, Tuesday’s outing is an indication of how far he’s come in the last five years. He said he struggled in his first couple of collegiate seasons because he lacked maturity.
That no longer appears to be an issue.
The veteran overcame a subpar first round (73), bettering his performance by seven strokes.
Although he struggled on his front nine on The Pointe course, he fought back with a vengeance on the back nine at Woodbridge.
His eight birdies showcased his stellar groove, the highlight coming on No. 6 when he chipped in from off the green.
“When I hit that chip-in, it got me into a good zone on (No. 7 and No. 8),” Reardon said. “The key for me turning things around was just solid swings. When I struggled, everything was off (mindset and mechanics). Today was a completely different round for me.”
Reardon said the familiarity with Sunbrook paid dividends for the entire team, adding “it helps to know the little tricks to this course.”
The win was the Red Storm’s first since September of 2009 at Western Washington.
Up next for DSC is the Cal State San Bernardino Invite Feb. 28 through March 1.
SUU will attend the Wyoming Desert in Palm Springs, Calif., on Feb. 26 to 27.

Pat Hicks Thunderbird Invite           Sunbrook GC              St. George, UT          Tournament Dates: 02/14 – 02/15, 2011           Par:        72   72                   Daily Low Round            Yardage:  6879 6879                 Daily Leader    Both
Fin Team Scores
1 Dixie State (Utah) 285 285 570 -6
2 Charleston, Coll. of 288 287 575 -1
3 Utah Valley Univ. 286 290 576 E
4 CSU-Fullerton 291 287 578 +2
5 British Columbia, U. 293 297 590 +14
6 Utah State Univ. 290 302 592 +16
T 7 Seattle University 298 296 594 +18
T 7 Southern Utah Univ. 304 290 594 +18
9 Colorado Sc.of Mines 298 298 596 +20
10 Oral Roberts Univ. 302 296 598 +22
T 11 Boise State Univ. 300 305 605 +29
T 11 Western Illinois U. 304 301 605 +29

Fin Name School Scores
1 Mason Casper UT Valley 67 70 137 -7
T 2 Alex Ellis Charleston 70 69 139 -5
T 2 Taylor Reardon Dixie StUT 73 66 139 -5
T 4 Cory Bacon CO Mines 68 74 142 -2
T 4 Jim Knous CO Mines 72 70 142 -2
T 4 Kyle Chappell Dixie StUT 69 73 142 -2
T 7 Benjamin Schilleman Utah State 67 76 143 -1
T 7 Dakota Duerr Fullerton 71 72 143 -1
T 7 Nick Drost Dixie StUT 71 72 143 -1
T 7 Nick Ellis Fullerton 72 71 143 -1
T 7 Shannon Allen O.Roberts 73 70 143 -1
T 12 Jeff Evans So. Utah 74 70 144 E
T 12 Parker Allen Charleston 74 70 144 E
T 12 Stratton Schulz UT Valley 72 72 144 E
T 15 Andrew Godfrey W Illinois 71 74 145 +1
T 15 Andrew Robb Br. Colum. 72 73 145 +1
T 15 Corey Gard Fullerton 72 73 145 +1
T 15 David Holtgrewe O.Roberts 78 67 145 +1
T 15 Dennis Nikou Br. Colum. 71 74 145 +1
T 15 Ian Dahl Seattle U. 72 73 145 +1
T 15 Mathew Brearton Dixie StUT 72 73 145 +1
T 15 Seth Stuart Charleston 73 72 145 +1
T 23 Andrew Carlin UT Valley 72 74 146 +2
T 23 Brad Millard So. Utah 74 72 146 +2
T 23 Chanse Godderidge Utah State 71 75 146 +2
T 23 Charlie Marusiak Boise St. 69 77 146 +2
T 23 Conner Jones Dixie StUT 72 74 146 +2
T 23 Taeksoo Kim Boise St. 73 73 146 +2
T 29 Jordan Beals Seattle U. 75 72 147 +3
T 29 Matt Wahlen Weber St. 71 76 147 +3
T 29 Scott Rubzin Fullerton 76 71 147 +3
T 32 Coy Breen Charleston 72 76 148 +4
T 32 Jack Wesche Br. Colum. 74 74 148 +4
T 32 Nick Tarasiewicz UT Valley 77 71 148 +4
T 35 Brad Bills UT Valley 75 74 149 +5
T 35 Jacob Ready Weber St. 69 80 149 +5
T 37 Chris Holway Seattle U. 72 78 150 +6
T 37 Kurt Slattery W Illinois 73 77 150 +6
T 37 Mark Anguiano Fullerton 76 74 150 +6
T 40 Brendan Dennis Utah State 76 75 151 +7
T 40 Greg Kerber So. Utah 80 71 151 +7
T 40 John Duke Hudson Charleston 73 78 151 +7
T 40 Konrad Deka W Illinois 79 72 151 +7
T 40 Nic Booth So. Utah 79 72 151 +7
45 Austin French Utah State 76 76 152 +8
T 46 David Sheman Br. Colum. 76 77 153 +9
T 46 Joey Olsen UT Valley 75 78 153 +9
T 46 Jordan Orth So. Utah 77 76 153 +9
T 46 Peter McKinzie W Illinois 78 75 153 +9
T 46 Tyson McFarland Utah State 77 76 153 +9
T 51 Chad Crowther Dixie StUT 75 79 154 +10
T 51 Jake Holt So. Utah 75 79 154 +10
T 53 Jake Spencer O.Roberts 76 79 155 +11
T 53 John Payton Seattle U. 82 73 155 +11
T 53 Scott Spiewak Boise St. 78 77 155 +11
T 56 Alastair Tidcombe Br. Colum. 76 80 156 +12
T 56 Ben Pounds Charleston 80 76 156 +12
T 56 Carson Baugher W Illinois 76 80 156 +12
T 56 Chad Herges CO Mines 79 77 156 +12
T 56 Scott Malo Br. Colum. 80 76 156 +12
T 61 Garrett Moore O.Roberts 77 80 157 +13
T 61 Michael Lee CO Mines 79 78 157 +13
T 61 Paul Norman UT Valley 83 74 157 +13
T 64 Kyle Spencer O.Roberts 76 83 159 +15
T 64 Minwoo Park Boise St. 80 79 159 +15
T 64 Ryan Sarlo Weber St. 80 79 159 +15
T 64 Taylor Porter Boise St. 81 78 159 +15
T 68 Grant Wozencroft CO Mines 86 77 163 +19
T 68 Kris Sayer Utah State 84 79 163 +19
T 68 Parker Redding UT Valley 84 79 163 +19
T 68 Rob Siebly Seattle U. 79 84 163 +19
72 Ben Kilborn W Illinois 84 80 164 +20
73 Quinn Jensen Utah State 81 84 165 +21
74 Beau Ehlers Utah State 86 82 168 +24
75 Justin Bateman So. Utah 76 93 169 +25
76 Denny Job So. Utah 90 80 170 +26
77 Brock Glasmann So. Utah 84 89 173 +29

Round 1 Round 2 Total

Team Statistics
Average Score: 294.92 294.50 294.71
Rounds Below Par: 2 3 5
Rounds Even Par: 1 0 1
Rounds Above Par: 9 9 18

Player Statistics
Average Score: 75.69 75.61 75.65
Rounds Below Par: 13 12 25
Rounds Even Par: 11 8 19
Rounds Above Par: 53 57 110