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Chugg Dominant in Third Utah Women’s State Am Victory

Kelsey Chugg dominated the final day of the 2015 Utah Women’s State Am Championship at Hidden Valley Country Club by knocking over BYU’s number one player Lea Garner, 6 and 5, in the semifinals, and then disposing of rising BYU star Brooklyn Hocker, 5 and 4, in the championship match. She lost only one hole in each of the solid, convincing victories.

It was Chugg’s third State Am title in four years and has earned her the title of undisputed Queen of Golf in Utah.

Hocker, just a relatively unknown sophomore at BYU from Idaho Falls, pulled off a shocker in the morning by upsetting defending champion Sirene Blair in a tremendous 20-hole semifinal match. It was a classic battle that was suspenseful for the entire four plus hours.

Hocker was given a gift on the first hole when Blair started with a three-putt bogey, but Blair birdied the third hole to square the match. They parried at all square for the next eight holes. On 12 and 13 they exchanged bogeys and then went the five finishing holes all square. The nerve wracking match finally ended on the 20th when Hocker hit it close to the pin on the par three and made her short putt for the match winning birdie.

Meanwhile in the other semifinal match Chugg started with bogey, but immediately birdied the short par three second hole. The match turned on the fourth hole when Garner hit her drive a touch too long and was blocked from reaching the green in ordinary fashion. The unordinary fashion didn’t work out and Chugg easily won that hole to take the lead she never relinquished. She won five of the next six holes and closed Garner out on the 13th hole.

Chugg’s quick match gave her a full plate of R and R (rest and relaxation) while Hocker had little time to digest her sudden death victory let alone her lunch. Chugg took command quickly and won the first two holes.

On the fourth hole Chugg made the same mistake Garner had made in their morning match—she hit her drive a touch too long and was stymied by tree trouble and lost the hole. That was the only hole she lost in that final match and as the holes wore on Hocker wore down and Chugg smothered any of Hocker’s hopes by being repeatedly errorless.

Chugg was clearly the dominating player in the tournament , maybe more so than in any of her other championships.

Chugg won the title in 2012 at Logan Country Club and again in 2013 at Wasatch Mountain. Last year she lost in the quarterfinals to Emily Podlesny at Ogden Country Club, her only loss in four years. Her match play record over that time is 13-1.

Chugg is a former collegiate player at Weber State and now is Director Membership Services at the Utah Golf Association. She is pondering another attempt at qualifying for the LPGA Tour.

Semifinal Results

Kelsey Chugg def. Lea Garner, 6 and 5

Brooklyn Hocker def. Sirene Blair, 20 holes

Finals

Chugg def. Hocker, 5 and 4

Complete results of all the matches and scorecards can be seen at:

https://ghintpp.com/uga/TPPOnlineScoring/MatchTree.aspx?id=264