Deep Utah State roster regroups for one last ride at National Golf Invitational
Deep Utah State roster regroups for one last ride at National Golf Invitational
It would have been perfectly noble for Utah State's three graduating seniors to ride into the sunset two weeks ago after a sixth-place finish at the Mountain West Conference. That's the best conference finish for a Utah State team in 12 years. Every player finished under par – a program first.
For one thing, the team had already dispersed – to Colombia, Mexico, Texas – but one of the best things about this team, from where head coach Dean Johansen is sitting, is that they indeed came back.
Utah State hasn't played a postseason event since 1981. An invitation to the National Golf Invitational broke that nearly 50-year drought, and one very savvy travel coordinator at the university in Logan, Utah, brought the five men back from parts the world over to meet within an hour of each other at Phoenix International Airport.
'It means a lot to me personally – just the young men that they are, the sacrifice they're willing to make for their team and their coaches and their school,' said Johansen, who puts a premium on developing the whole player, and always has in his 25 years at the helm of the Aggie program.
National Golf Invitational: Scores
Utah State went 11 under in the opening round of the NGI at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes in Maricopa, Arizona, for a one-shot lead on Ohio State. It's a course with which the Aggies are familiar, having played in the Wyoming-hosted Cowboy Classic here the past two years.
'This is our third event at this golf course in two years,' Johansen said. '. . . I think that's a pretty good advantage.'
In all the teams he's coached, Johansen puts this one at the top of the list when it comes to depth of talent. That's a testament to him as well, considering that a small recruiting budget and cold, snowy weather make it no small feat to draw a squad like this one to Logan.
'It is validating,' Johansen said of the NGI opportunity, 'and these kids worked hard all winter long. We're hitting balls indoors, we're driving five and a half hours to find grass to play on for a weekend and they came out at the conference championship and played as good as we've ever played at the Mountain West, broke a few school records for us, best finish ever for us. . . . We weren't really planning on this (NGI start). They all were willing to come back from their respective countries.'
For Esteban Jaramillo and Julio Arronte, that meant delaying the start of professional careers. Johansen's third senior, John Cook, already planned to hold off turning pro until playing the Utah State Amateur and the team's home course, Logan Country Club in July.
Arronte contributed a 5-under 67 for Utah State on Friday that went a long way in pulling his team up the leaderboard. Sophomore Enrique Karg did two better, posting a bogey-free round of 7-under 65.
'All of the guys on the team, if you look at our spring and even last fall, any one of them can get it going at any time and just get on the birdie train and today, we had a ton as a team,' Johansen said.
Karg leads the individual race with Utah Valley's Clement Lepine one shot behind him.
The next 36 holes will be bittersweet for Johansen but fun to watch regardless. This team, he said, has made an impact not just on the program, but on the community. They're well respected at Logan Country Club, the team's home course where Johansen is also the golf pro, and they've already shown that they have the guts to overcome the realities of a Utah climate that's not particularly golf friendly.
'This is a win for us no matter how we finish in the tournament,' Johansen said when asked to look ahead at how an NGI berth positions his program for the future. 'It just elevates my program that we're in the postseason, how well they played today and I'm planning on them playing good the next two days.'
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