Billy Harvey will be prepared to defend his
State Am title at Oakridge
By Joe Watts

Oakridge Country Club, one of Utah's premier golf courses, will be the site of the 102nd Utah State Amateur Championship set to unfold July 5th through the 9th.

Billy Harvey, one of the outstanding players on the resurgent BYU golf team, is the defending champion. He will be a formidable foe, but winning another five straight matches against the best amateurs in Utah won't be an easy task. The last seven champions have been unable to do it. Doug Bybee was the last one to win back-to-back titles and that was in 1990 and 1991. Bybee will be one of those outstanding amateurs applying the pressure on Harvey.

Harvey is the only player exempt into the match play portion of the tournament. That obviously means he has the best chance of winning. Everyone else has hurdles to face.

Most of the field must go through a qualifying test at one of seven qualifying sites. About 18% of the field will survive the qualifying and advance to Oakridge.

There are some players exempt from qualifying. They include former champions Doug Bybee, Steve Borget, Mitch Hyer, Tom Christensen, Darrin Overson, Craig Ridd, Jason Wight, Arlen Peacock, Todd Barker, and Billy Harvey.

Last year's quarterfinalists are also exempt. That includes Kirk Siddens, John Esterbrook, Herb Lyons, Lynn Lloyd, Brock Padilla, Casey Beck, and Steve Day.

Other exemptions have been extended to Dick Peacock, Doug Rouse, Steve Poulson, Steve Watts, Ryan Job, Chris Moody, and Mike Jorgensen for winning or finishing high in other UGA events.

Exemptions will also be granted to the yet-to-be-determined winners of the UGA Senior Match Play championship and the UGA Junior Amateur championship. Oakridge CC, as the host golf course, also is given three exemptions that have yet to be decided. That's a total of 29 exemptions.

The qualifying rounds will be held at seven wonderful golf courses. They are Moab, Glenmoor, Hobble Creek, Logan River, Green Spring, Bountiful Ridge, and Davis Park.

Entries for the tournament are available at golf courses throughout the state and on the UGA home page at www.UGA.org.