News
Check out what has been happening in Utah Golf.
Garner, Chugg Lead Women’s State Am Heading Into ‘White Knuckle’ Time
The first round of the Women’s Utah State Amateur Championship Monday at Hidden Valley Country Club was delayed by three hours because of accumulation of rain water on the greens that made them unplayable, but good fortune shined on the tournament and the first qualifying round was completed comfortably before dark.
The final qualifying round will be held Tuesday and the low 16 players will advance to match play that will begin Wednesday morning.
Defending champion Sirene Blair is automatically the number one seed by virtue of her victory last year. She shot a non-counting practice round score of 71.
Two-time champion Kelsey Chugg and BYU’s number one player Lea Garner shot opening rounds of 69 and will be battling it out for medalist honors Tuesday, but both should easily make it to match play.
For the rest of the field it is ‘white knuckle’ time as they face the task of finishing in the top 16. After the first round Kimberly Nyhus is holding down the 16th spot and those who are a stroke or two ahead or trailing her will be under intense pressure to finish in the top 16.
The top two senior players in the state, Sue Nyhus and Annette Gaiotti, are at 85 and will have to shoot a low number Tuesday to advance to match play.
After Tuesday’s final stroke play qualifying the match play portion begins on Wednesday with the Round of 16 in the morning and the quarterfinals in the afternoon. The semifinals and finals will be on Thursday morning and afternoon. All matches will be 18-holes.
The gross standings after the first qualifying round are as follows:
69- Lea Garner, Kelsey Chugg
70- Haley Dunn
71- Sirene Blair, Emily Podlesney
72- Naomi Soifua
73- Alex White, Allison Cluff, Kendra Dalton
74- Carly Dehlin, Carly Oldroyd
75- Katie Perkins, Lauren Atkinson
76- Xena Motes, Haley Chugg
77- Kimberly Nyhus, 16th position
78- Elizabeth Jones, Annie Yang, Brooklyn Hocker
79- Cobair Collingsworth
80- Christiania Ciasco, Lydia Austin, Nicole Thomas
81- Cathy Kucherack
83- Karen Valcarce, Marissa Louder, Masina Kaohelaulii
84- Karen Mickelsen, Sue Nyhus, Annette Gaiotti, Rina Slade
Complete scores can be seen by linking to: https://ghintpp.com/uga/TPPOnlineScoring/ResultsStroke.aspx?archive=stroke&id=264