CEDAR CITY, Utah, May 2 - Southern Utah University has signed two golfers to National Letters of Intent, SUU head golf coach Richard Church has announced. Tim Leonard,  from Timaru, New Zealand, and John Reid, from Westminster, Md., have both committed to play for the Thunderbirds.

Leonard, who is currently the 546^th-ranked amateur in the world, will join the Thunderbirds as a sophomore this fall. He has been a member of the New Zealand Srixon Development squad for the past three years. Among his amateur accomplishments have been a 45^th-place overal finish at the 2011 BMW New Zealand Open, an Australian pro tour event, where he was the second amateur. He has four top-10 and two top-five finishes this year, including a second-place finish at the South Island championship and a third-place finish at Dunedin. A two-time under-19 South Island champion, in 2011 he claimed another second-place finish at the South Island Championship and a third at Dunedin. He finished 10^th in the New Zealand stroke play chamipnship and recorded two wins playing in the No. 1 position at the New Zealand Interprovincial championship.

Reid - who competed on the varsity squad at Orem High as a freshman before moving to Maryland - is a four-year letter-winner in golf. He was a two-time team MVP and team captain at Westminster High School, where he earned an individual berth at the state tournament his sophomore and junior seasons and led his team to a 23-2 record and a team berth as a senior. A two-time first-team all-county and all-conference performer, as a senior he won the county championship and finished fourth at the state championship.  As a senior he was also named the county and the conference Player of the Year.

"We're excited to be able to sign two players of Tim and John's caliber," Church said. "They will both be able to come in and help us right away and we look forward to their arrival."

-- SUU --