Brad Sutterfield on Utah Tech Golf Schedule, Roster Updates/Expectations, First Tournament, + More

0:00We are joined now by coach Brad Cedarfield. Utah Tech. We need to talk about the trail Blazers coach. Good morning. Welcome to show. Hey Paul. Thanks for having me on. Appreciate the invite. So glad to have you with us today coach. Um, the trailblazers are in a little bit of a transition year. Is that fair to say? Absolutely. Yeah, we've, uh, we've added five points to the trailblazers. I'm excited about the trailblazers. I'm excited about the trailblazers. Uh, that I'm really excited about. And, uh, yeah, we're much deeper. More loaded. Top to bottom. And, uh, yeah, I'm, I'm excited for the year. I haven't been this excited for a team. In a while, we're just, we've got. Just great kids. Great. Some really good players. And just, yeah, looking forward to it. And the trailblazers are really excited about the trailblazers.

1:01So, uh, like, um, well, we'll be back there. Hopefully we can go back to the trailblazers. I'm going to call it Colorado state in Fort Collins. Really good golf course and, um, three of our. Three of our new players qualified. So, uh, sorry. Our qualifying was really competitive. We had seven rounds. And, uh, low five go and. everybody away in the qualifier. I think he was 16 under. We had some tough conditions been blowing down here in St George. So he's a transfer from Southern Virginia. He finished fourth at the D3 Nationals last year, lefty, and just the gamer really just goes out and gets it done. And then in our second position, Chase Ciceric, freshman from Tucson, and man this kid can go. He has just got some real talent, a lot of speed, really knows how to flight his ball, which is really great to see. You don't see that often with a freshman. Sometimes it

2:06seems to take a couple years to learn how to flight the ball. Then in our third spot, we have Jack Yu. He is a transfer from UC Irvine. Super powerful player has a lot of experience. Had a couple good years at UC Irvine and wanted to come up to our great courses and facility to really take his games at the next level. And then in our fourth position, we have Ashton MacArthur. Really our veteran. This is his fourth year. And always solid just knows how to get the job done. And then our fifth spot, we up Frank Meow. He's a junior and got some talent this year. We're really excited about it. Is Chase Ciceric Mia's brother? Yes, correct. Yep. So she's had just a wonderful experience here at Utah Tech and loved every minute of it. And Chase was a pretty highly recruited player and this is

3:11where he wants to be. And so when I knew that and I'm like, this kid's good. I'm like, I made the offer and he's all in just really, really excited about him and his potential. And just a great kid. In fact, I'm Mia. He sent a video this morning. I think he posts on Instagram. He's already out early at our practice facility. After seven rounds of qualifying, he's up the next morning, getting after it. So you love to see it. That is really great. I am intrigued with Nico Taggart leading the way. Transfer any is a senior. But tell us more about his background. Yeah, you know, just a great kid. We've kind of an interesting story with him. He started out at Tuscalam, which is a D2 school in Tennessee. He's from Texas. And then he actually came to Utah Tech and kind of tried out for us back in the day when we could carry more

4:15on the roster and didn't make it. And then stayed here for a year at school. And then he went to Southern Virginia for a couple years. And I will say this as a coach, it's a regret I have is I probably should have brought him in earlier. It was just kind of a roster, kind of deal where, you know, nowadays with the roster limits, it's just really tough. But honestly, I should have brought him in earlier, but he did get some really great experience back there at Southern Virginia. And you can really tell. He just knows how to manage his game. He knows what he's doing with the golf ball and really good putter, good short game. And really excited to see what he can do for us this year. That is really cool. And you know, he he comes from a place in the world that produces great athletes from Katie Texas. Yeah, Texas gave us Nolan Ryan. Okay, I didn't know that. Yeah, I didn't know

5:21that. That so good. Something in the bottom there. Yeah, yeah. Now just a just a really good kid and really good player. He's had a really good summer. You know, he finished nine under in the Utah open, shot five under to qualify for the Utah open. This has had some really good results this year and just been really consistent. So I'm really excited about that. That is really cool. Let's talk a little bit about your schedule. You you've got some really interesting good tournaments, good courses. You're going to the Eisenhower course over at the Air Force Academy. That's always a fun trip. Tell us what has your attention on your fall schedule. Well, we go to Colorado State, which is one we've been to. I think this will be our fourth year in a row. Probably the best maybe the best greens you'll ever put on. Just a really good golf course solid field. And then yeah, we go to Air Force. We've

6:24been going there for a number of years. And if you haven't played the Eisenhower, it's spectacular. And then we go to Stockton, California to University Pacific. And then we're going to a new one this year down in Monterey, Mexico. It's hosted by George Washington. And he had a spot open for us. And I've talked to some of the other coaches and they just say it's a fabulous experience. Good golf course. And you just get treated really great. Really all you got to do is get down there. And then they take care of, they take really good care of you. So I'm excited about that one. That is really cool. Coach, while we've got you on the phone, we need to talk about you for a minute. First of all, can any of these kids beat the coach? Oh, heck yeah. Yeah, they beat me. And I won't pretend that I can hang with them being 57. But you know, here and there, I can, I can keep it with them.

7:29I hit it, you know, I hit it pretty straight. And you know, my putters always been my strength. So it's been exciting to get back into the game. I've had, you know, I've had a bad back for so many years. And that's no excuse, but I just really haven't wanted to touch a club. And it's feeling better. And I, man, I'll tell you, Paul, I've got the bug back. I really want to start getting after it and playing, playing some of these tournaments. And I'm, you know, I'm going to play to stay down until they kick me out. I mean, I might be there when I'm 65. But as long as I feel like I can be competitive and make match play at the state, I'm going to keep, I'm going to keep trying. So. Well, not only are you a former state and champ, okay? And by all means, feel free to hold that over their heads. But, but one of us coach just played in a USGA national championship. That would be you, yes. Yeah, I had the privilege of doing it. It was, it was amazing.

8:35Yeah, you qualified for played in the US senior AM at the Baltimore Country Club in Maryland. Tell us about this experience. Oh, man, I just, it was, it was a 10 out of 10 in every aspect other than the way I played, but I can get to that in a minute. But I mean, the golf course was just fabulous. It was championship conditions. The greens were amazing. The rough was up. It wasn't, the rough was still playable. You know, they didn't make it where you couldn't find your ball. The clubhouse, the food, the members, the staff. You know, you get to the driving range and they got brand new pro v's and they got your name tag that they put on the, you know, behind where you're hitting. And gosh, I, if I could get on a plane and go do it again right now, I'd do it in a heartbeat. It was just, it was

9:37a top, top three experience for me and golf that I'll never, never forget. And it makes me want so bad to get back there. It's just, I don't even know what say other than that. It was just, it was a 10 out of 10 in every, every aspect. That is so cool. That is so cool. USGA courses are known for being severe tests. They should be. They're identifying you know, as champion, um, talked to us about the Baltimore Country Club. Just phenomenal. Like, you know, it's kind of in this woodland area and kind of hilly and no houses at all on the golf course. So you just, you're out there and it's just you and the course. Old traditional um, killing hast. So the greens were sloppy and fast. Um, ton of character to the golf course had a really good variety of holes. One of my favorite courses have ever played.

10:41If, if I could be a member there, um, and play that place every day, I think you'd be a pretty happy golfer. Rob, what Brad is saying? It's got to ring true to you. Uh, there's nothing like a USGA championship. I had the honor, pleasure, got lucky, played in the US. I'm at Marion. Uh, I played in the US mid-AM, but there's just nothing like it. And to your point to go to the range and have your name and there's, I told my kids, uh, I kind of sorted out a few trophies a while ago and, but I kept some and I said to my kids, those silver USGA medals, please don't throw away. There's only one way to get one. And that's to, uh, to play your way in. So I'm sitting here on my seat with my palm sweating and love here and saying because it's, yeah, it's real. Yeah. And the money clip, the money clip

11:44they give you with your name on it, you just like, I'm gonna, I'm just gonna cherish that thing forever. And I, they gave us this really cool valuable pouch that had Baltimore Country Club and USGA all over it. Yeah. That's right. I mean, it's, uh, it's, you know, you don't get that opportunity very often. And I'm, I'll be forever grateful that I, that I had the chance to do it. It, it makes me want to get back there so bad. And I figure, you know, I'll be 58 next year. I figure, you know, if I can stay healthy, maybe seven more chances to qualify. And, uh, you know, a little disappointed with my play. I, I don't, you know, I hadn't played a ton of competitive golf over the last 15 years. And so, you know, it, it's hard. It's, it's a different, you know, competitive golf is just obviously different than going out and playing with your buddies. And, and you know, I was really busy with the team. And so I'd go over in the evenings to the

12:46hitting bays and stay a little loose. But I probably wasn't play, you know, playing sharp as I could have been or wanted to. But that's, that's no excuse. I, I have the experience and I just didn't get it done with the putter. I just kind of three-potted way too many times, which you're gonna do on those greens. But I just, you know, I, I can't complain. I, there's no excuses whatsoever. I didn't get the job done. But I feel like, if I could get back there and make match play, I feel like I could be competitive with any of those guys. Yeah. Well, it's really cool. We're sure proud of you. It was fun to see you back there. John Wright made the field as well. Yeah, we know. We know. Excellent. No, you, oh, interesting. That's, that's cool. And no accident. Both of you guys are former state-am champs. That's how that works, Rob. Yeah. Talent, talent age as well. They're just

13:51really good players. They're just really good players. It's not complicated. They're really good. Well coach, thank you for jumping on with this today. It's nice to take a minute and talk with you both about the trailblazers and about what you're doing lately. We love watching both. We're sure going to be cheering for you this year so go knock him dead, baby. Well, I appreciate that. And I always want to give a shout out to you guys for everything you do for Utah golf. I don't, I think it's unmatched in the country. I don't think there's a group like you guys and Randy Dodson that just expose Utah golf and people are in the know because you guys you guys really dedicate to Utah golf and it doesn't go unnoticed. So thank you. That's very kind of you. Thank you, Brad. Hey, real quick, Brad. A week ago, I was playing golf in Scotland and I was playing at

14:52Trune. We're, I don't know, 40, 50 yards down the fairway on the first hole. And my caddy says, where are you from? I said, I'm from the US, Ogden, Utah. And he said to me, man, there's really a good track in Ogden, Utah, the Ogden often country club. And he said, I caddy didn't the corporate tour event there a year ago. And he says, are you aware of it? And I said, yeah, I've been remembered there for 40 years. I've been aware of it. But to, but to your point, the Utah Golf Association Utah Golf Radio, Fairways magazine, there's nothing like it. I used to tell the guys on my college team and as I travel, there's nothing like Utah golf. It's unbelievable. You know, no, there really isn't. And you're right. You said it, you said it exactly right. So it's unmatched. Yeah, fun stuff. Well, it's, it, the game is great in Utah and it's people like you making it great, Brad. And we, we're, we're just really grateful to be a part of it. Well, thank you. And I

15:58pretty, I really appreciate you guys having me on. Absolutely. All right. Thank you so much. Folks, that is Brad Sutterfield, head coach, the Utah Tech Trailblazers.