Senior Tai Reynolds and sophomore Sadie Palmer will lead the SUU golf teams down to St. George Saturday to co-host the Utah Collegiate Shootout.
Reynolds is coming off consecutive fifth-place finishes at the Desert Intercollegiate and the Purple & Red Invitational.
SUU golf coach Richard Church said Reynolds, the only senior on the men's team, has been playing well, finishing near the top of the field and shooting numerous rounds under par, including two of the three rounds at the Desert Collegiate on Oct. 5-6.
Church said the men's team, as a whole is a talented team across the board.
"The men are playing well, but not as well as I'd like them to," he said. "They've had a chance to win a couple tournaments and haven't finished them off."
The women head to St. George on the heels of a seventh-place finish at the Firestone Grill College Invitational, where Palmer led the way with a 16th-place finish. Palmer has finished in the top 20 in all four tournaments the women have played this year, including a top-10 finish at the NAU Mountain Shootout and a second-place finish at the season-opening Weber State Wildcat Invitational.
"I'm pleased with the way the women are continuing to improve," Church said. "It's our third year and we've got a good nucleus of players. We've been steadily moving up in the rankings."
The Utah Collegiate Shootout will consist of in-state schools. SUU and Dixie State will play host to Utah, Utah State, Utah Valley and Weber State in the men's tournament while the T-Birds will play host to Weber State and Utah Valley in the women's tournament; Utah, Utah State and Dixie State don't have women's golf programs.
"We've seen Utah, Weber (State), Utah Valley and Utah State a number of times this year and we're fortunate to have a winning record against all of them except Utah," Church said.
The T-Bird men have faced each school in every tournament they've competed in this year, except the head-to-head tournament against Utah State. Utah is 3-0 against SUU this fall, while the T-Birds boast a 3-0 record over Utah Valley, a 2-1 record over Weber State and a 2-2 record against Utah State.
The SUU women have competed against Utah Valley in each tournament they've played in the fall season as well, getting the better of them with a 2-1-1 record. The T-Bird women have only opposed Weber State once, losing to them at the Wildcat Invitational.
Church said the T-Birds have a home-course advantage this weekend over the schools up north.
"It helps that we know the course better than anyone except Dixie (State)," he said. "We also won't have to travel as far."
Church said the T-Birds have a geographic advantage throughout the fall season because of climate.
"Typically we get better throughout the year," he said. "Because of our geographic location, we get to play more."
Church said it's too early to tell where the T-Birds stand in The Summit League, having not competed against any other conference schools. He said the teams will have a better idea of where they rank in the spring.
The Utah Collegiate Shootout is a 36-hole tournament, which takes place Saturday in St. George.
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