April 16, 2008

THIS WEEK:
The University of Utah golf team will hit the road April 18-19 for the 2008 Ping Cougar Classic, hosted by Brigham Young University. The 54-hole tournament features 36 holes on Friday and 18 on Saturday, and play will begin each day at 8 a.m. The 72-par tournament will be held at the Riverside Country Club in Provo, Utah. Brigham Young is the defending tournament champion, and the Cougars' Daniel Summerhays is the defending individual medalist.

The Utah lineup for the Cowboy Classic will include Nic Larson, Nick Carter, Steve Broker, Chance Cota and Chris Gresh. In 2007, Dustin Pimm led Utah with rounds of 70, 67 and 74 to finish tied for sixth at five-under-par, and Steve Broker tied for 14th at three-under. The team finished tied for sixth at four-over-par.

THE FIELD:
The field for the 2008 Cougar Classic includes Air Force, Boise State, BYU, Idaho State, University of New Mexico, New Mexico State, Sacramento State, Saint Mary's, Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley State, Washington State, Weber State, and the University of Wyoming. The tournament features five Mountain West Conference schools and four Beehive state schools. Nationally-ranked St. Mary's (46) of the West Coast Conference will also compete.

PIMM TURNS PRO:
Utah senior Dustin Pimm announced March 30 his plans to accept an invitation to play on the Canadian Professional Golf Tour. Pimm will lose his eligibility and miss the season's last three events, being replaced on Utah's roster by Nick Carter.

"[The tour] said, `Either take it or leave it,'" Pimm said. "After a lot of thought, and a lot of people supporting me, I decided to take it."

UTE NOTES:
Senior Nick Carter, who has been limited to only four tournaments this season by injury, leads the team in stroke average. Carter competed in the Wolf Pack Classic in October 2007, and then didn't play again until Pimm's departure opened a roster spot at the Cowboy Classic.

2007-08 UTE GOLF STATS:
PLAYER	       ROUNDS  STROKE AVERAGE	   TOP FINISH
Steve Broker	28	74.68	            T15
Nick Carter	11	72.73	            T8
Chance Cota	22	73.73	            T11
Chris Gresh	25	74.80	            T6
Nic Larson	28 	72.96	            4
DUSTIN PIMM*	25	73.16	            T4
*no longer with team