News

Dunkle Wins Second Straight Event, Utes Finish Second at Mark Simpson Invitational

(Photo courtesy of the University of Utah Athletic Department)

By Mady White, Student Assistant  for Utah Athletics Communications

ERIE, Colo. – The Utah men's golf team finished in second place at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational, while senior Kyler Dunkle picked up his second straight individual title on Tuesday at the Colorado National Golf Club in Erie, Colo. 
 
Dunkle finished tied for first place with Colorado's Trevor Olkowski with a score of 9-under par (207) over the 54-hole tournament before heading to a playoff hole Tuesday afternoon. Dunkle sank a birdie putt to edge Olkowski on the first playoff hole. Dunkle carded 4-under par (68) in the final round.
 
Dunkle has now won two straight individual titles after winning the event last week at the Showdown in the Rockies. This also marks Dunkle's third career first place finish, with the other victory coming from last year's Mark Simpson Invitational. Dunkle's third regular-season tournament title is the most by any player in the history of the Utah men's golf program.   
 
Utah's five-man team came up just shy of Colorado, who finished in first place at 14-under par (850). The Utes finished the two-day event with a score of 12-under par (852) to place second overall in the 16-team field. The Utes carded a final round of 7-under par (281) to close out the event.
 
“Kyler's win is phenomenal! He has just been awesome the past two events,” head coach Garrett Clegg said. “As far as our team, we just didn't get the job done today. We had opportunities, but unfortunately we were not able to capitalize. We did not do enough to win and Colorado did.  Hopefully we learned a lot from this week and are prepared for our next trip to Wisconsin. We will need to play a lot better than we played this week to compete in that tournament.”
 
Behind Dunkle, junior Mitchell Schow earned a top-five finish at the Mark Simpson Invitational, finishing in fifth place with a score of 3-under par (213). Schow shot 4-under par (68) in the final round. The top-five finish marks the second of Schow's career with the first coming back during his freshman year.  
 
Competing as an individual, sophomore Tristan Mandur finished in ninth place after going 1-under par (71) in the final round. Mandur posted a combined three-round score of 1-under par (215).
 
“Mitchell had a very good tournament and I was happy to see him play well. Tristan, who was playing as an individual, also did a great job the last two days,” Clegg said.
 
Sophomore Blake Tomlinson finished in a tie for 14th place with a score of 1-over par (217). Tomlinson recorded even par (72) on Tuesday. Junior Jordan Costello also fell inside the top-20, placing in a tie for 18th place. Costello was 2-over par (74) on the day to finish the event at 2-over par (218).
 
Freshman Axel Einarsson rounded out Utah's five-man team at the Mark Simpson Invitational, placing 30th overall. Einarsson carded 1-over par (73) to finish with a combined score of 4-over par (220).
 
Utah led the field in par-4 scoring average over the 54 holes, averaging 3.84 strokes. The Utes also led the field in birdies after totaling 68 birdies for the tournament. Dunkle registered 17 birdies, Schow had 15, while Einarsson sank 14 to lead the 95-player field.  
 
Utah will travel to compete at the Marquette Invitational at Erin Hills next Sunday, Sept. 30, through Tuesday, Oct. 2. The three-day event will be held at Erin Hills Golf Course in Erin, Wis.