Kory Woodland: The job he was born to master

By Beaux Yenchik, UGA Intern

As one of the most cliched lines ever used in American diction states, “If you build it, they will come.”

The Barn Golf Course sits along the northern reaches of the Wasatch Front in a town called Pleasant View, which is just on the outskirts of Ogden. With the population being just a skosh over 10,000 people, this track has been a Weber County hot spot for years for any golfer within an hour’s drive. People not only come for the good golf but for the staff that owns and operates the course: The Woodland Family.

Ever since he was a little boy, Kory Woodland has called The Barn GC his second home – literally, as his home growing up sat just north of the current driving range. Woodland spent many mornings sleeping under the clothes rack in the pro shop as his dad, Kelly Woodland – the course’s head professional – would bring him to work in the morning, often before the sun would even rise.

“As far back as my memory serves, I just grew up [and] woke up most days here at the course,” Woodland said.

As Woodland grew older, the course became more than just a place to resume his nightly sleep. It was the very spot where his passion for the game of golf came to life. He would often search for lost balls for players who hit errant shots. He’d even accompany Gary Hazelgren, a club professional at the time, during his lessons – acting as if he was just another professional despite being only 11 years old.

Developing quite the knack for the game, Woodland’s dad often paired his son with anybody from anywhere – more times than not with players older and better than this future professional. Competing with better talent later helped Woodland make the high school team at Ogden High School, and later the Utah State University men’s golf team.

“It kind of interested me that it was a game that it didn’t matter how old or how tall you were, you could go tee it up and really enjoy yourself with just about anyone that would be willing to accept you in the pairing,” Woodland said.

Only completing a portion of his college, Woodland knew he was destined to be a golf professional and eventually help take over the family-ran course, just as his dad did from Woodland’s grandparents.

Set up as a way to provide some sort of retirement plan for each generation to come along, Woodland’s grandparents sold the course to two of their children, Kelly and Shon, a few years ago, thus enabling them some sort of retirement after purchasing the club out of bankruptcy some 30 years ago.

Fulfilling his father’s dream to work with his two sons, Woodland and his brother, Justin, work side-by-side with their dad to help run and operate the 6,131-yard course. Justin Woodland is the superintendent, while Kory helps run the shop – closing five days a week and teaching on Tuesdays.

For the Woodland family, golf is what they know.

“I think we have the ability to do other things, maybe other talents, but I would just say golf is in our blood,” Woodland said.

Woodland stated that he has always taken pride in the fact that he is a PGA Professional and a “beacon to the community” – establishing a name that all will recognize and associate with the concepts of integrity and honor.

On top of the long hours put into working at the course, Woodland has spread his far-reaching influence in various ways around the community. For example, Woodland has been the head coach for the boy’s and girl’s golf teams at Weber High for some time. (His greatest joy came from watching his son come up through the ranks of his golf team.)

Before returning to The Barn GC in 2002 to be his dad’s assistant, Woodland had the chance to work at a couple other shops around the state: Wolf Creek Golf Course, Oakridge Country Club, and Swan Lakes Golf Course.

Due to his family’s efforts and willingness to grind out the long days, The Barn GC has put forth a good quality product despite not necessarily having the highest of revenues around. They have made sure to offer a good price to one and all so every golfer has a place to hit the links and enjoy the game we all love.

“As I mentioned, after having come back here in 2002, I’ve had the privilege of being mentored by my dad,” Woodland said. “He’s always been the best possible example in terms of work ethic.”

In an occupation that requires a lot of sacrifice and time away from one’s family, Woodland has fought to give his two children every opportunity to succeed in this life as possible – including a chance to take over the course when the time comes sometime in the future for Woodland and his brother to retire and pass on the family business. But, whatever they choose, the Woodland family is behind them 100 percent.

Having somewhat of a creative mind, growing up, Woodland originally wanted to be a course architect like his great-grandfather. After realizing that route wasn’t for him, Woodland pursued his golfing career.

“I had heard stories of how my great-grandfather, Ernie Schneiter Sr., had built several golf courses,” Woodland stated. “That kind of peaked my interest because I have a creative or artistic eye by design, and [I] thought that golf course architecture might be kind of an easy path and found out pretty soon that it wasn’t nearly as easy as I had anticipated.”

However, Woodland never gave up his love for being creative. Outside of his time at the golf course, he enjoys logo and graphic design. (He is the one who designed The Barn GC’s new logo.) He especially enjoys designing golf apparel, and with five or six golf lines of his own, he hopes one day there will be some sort of fruition that comes from his talents.

With a self-lived motto of not taking life so seriously, Woodland loves being with his wife, Heather, and their two children. They have had season tickets to the Utah Jazz, and he enjoys any chance to get out fishing.

Kory, thank you for your life-long dedication to the game we all love. Many of us keep coming back time and time again because of professionals like you.

Darci Olsen: Being back where it all began

By Beaux Yenchik, UGA Intern

It was Career Day at school and all the students were being asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. Some probably wanted to be firefighters, while others liked the doctor route. However, a little blonde girl – named Darci Olsen – had a different idea than her peers. Showing her self-drawn Van Gogh in class, her demonstrated masterpiece was that of herself as a golf professional.

Fast forward to now, Olsen has a Class A status with the Professional Golf Association, she is the head professional at Glenmoor Golf Course in South Jordan, and she is a female in a male-dominated industry – roughly 3 percent of PGA Professionals are women.

“I just always have wanted to do it,” Olsen said. “I kind of have never really thought I’d do anything else. Whether I would be a head pro or a sales rep or merchandiser, I just always wanted to be in golf … Its just always kind of been in the [plans] for me.”

Olsen runs one of the busiest establishments out of all the courses I’ve stepped foot on this year. Glenmoor GC has men’s and women’s leagues, and it has one of the top junior programs in the state. Olsen’s track is the home course to five high school golf teams, and it played host to a Utah State Amateur Qualifier, which proved worthy for its competitors.

From being a successful junior who was known for her blonde ponytail and matching outfits to being a head professional, Olsen has found a lot of success and happiness through the game of golf – a game that has been and always will be a part of her DNA.

So, the question needs to be asked. Where did this infatuation with the game of golf come from?

After having taken a second to reflect on the question, tears began to build up. Needing just a brief moment to catch her breath and compose herself, Olsen reverently stated her late father.

“He loved it so much,” Olsen said, with a tone of deep, heart-felt love. “He was so proud of us. He never missed any of our tournaments … It was just one thing that we had as a family … If my dad was alive still, he would be so excited and so thrilled that I was back here at Glenmoor where it all started for us.”

What had started this small obsession for the Dehlin family was the purchase of a new home in South Jordan. One day, Pat “Sweets” Dehlin had been attending a “Parade of Homes” street in the area and came across the dream house for him, his wife and their family. Coming home and telling his wife he felt inspired to buy the house – just a short distance from Glenmoor GC – the two made the finances work despite the house being a little out of budget at the time.

Neither of her parents were big-time golfers for the younger part of their lives. In fact, it was Olsen’s oldest brother Devin – the Executive Director of the PGA Utah Section – who initially got the ball rolling when it came to introducing the Dehlin family to golf. (No pun intended!) Olsen recollected about how her brother got his first set of clubs on Christmas as a kid and went to the course to use them that very same day.

Because of that move, the Dehlin family pretty much made Glenmoor GC their home away from home. Olsen’s three siblings each worked at the course prior to her. On top of her siblings finding work there, her parents even ran the snack bar, she said.

Olsen said, “If I wanted to be with my family, I just kind of had to be at the golf course.”

Her childhood memories are also flooded with countless hours spent on a literal bed in her dad’s station wagon, listening to music while her family traveled to the Junior World Championships and Disneyland.

As Olsen grew older, her passion for the game of golf never diminished.

Graduating from Weber State University with a bachelor’s degree in communications, along with a minor in sales and merchandising, Olsen has found a way to use her degree daily.

During her time at college, Olsen played for the Wildcat women’s golf team – continuing her passion to play competitively at a high level.

Following college, Olsen dabbled around in the real estate market after starting the process of becoming a PGA Professional. After gaining her real estate license, she debated back and forth on the idea of turning pro. With some success in reality, Olsen ultimately knew deep down she belonged somewhere else – a pro shop.

Even though she had passed her Player’s Ability Test (PAT) at the young age of 21 and later left the career field to pursue other endeavors, Olsen knew she had made the right choice to return to the golfing community.

Fast forward again a few years, this time Olsen is working at Willow Creek Country Club. Still single, Olsen met a handsome looking devil who happened to help take care of the golf course at the club. Over time, Olsen and her future husband, Joey, dated and eventually got married – talk about a power couple at a golf course: a pro in the shop and an assistant super-intendent on the course.

Following their time at Willow Creek CC, the Olsen family made their way down to Roosevelt Golf Course where they managed to land the main gigs, which put them in the position to run the course – initially moving there for Joey’s job offer to be the super-intendent.

Having spent some time in Duchesne County, Olsen and her family returned to the Salt Lake area. It was here that Olsen returned to where it all began – the place rich with fond memories from her childhood. Landing the big office in the corner of the shop, Olsen became the head professional of Glenmoor GC – molding the golfing atmosphere in the southwest corner of the state’s capital city and its suburbs into a desired destination for the weekend warriors and everyone else.

Now having served her time as an assistant professional at various courses, Olsen has shaped Glenmoor GC into a thriving community with its different leagues, a practice facility for everyone and as stated before, one of the most successful youth programs around.

Though filled with passion – a passion passed on from her father – Olsen knew she would not be where she is now if it wasn’t for her dear husband and her two children – a stepdaughter and daughter. In fact, it was Joey who strongly encouraged his wife to get her Class A Status as a PGA Professional.

Being on the receiving end of golf’s good fortunes, she believes is it crucial to give something back. Her parents wanted her and her siblings to have every opportunity they could in life. This perspective is demonstrated in her love toward her kids and those she serves daily.

“Golf needs to be fun,” Olsen stated. “It is [already] such a [challenging] sport…”

When she isn’t at the golf course whether for work or with her family, Olsen loves going to movies, traveling via cruise ship or to Flaming Gorge, and to simply spend time with her family.

Darci, as you continue serve those that enter your pro-shop doors, the influence that your dad had on you is and will be manifest in your actions toward others.

BYU Men’s Golf: Kuest wins second straight WCC Golfer of the Month

By Caleb Turner, Sports Information Director for Golf at Brigham Young University

SAN BRUNO, Calif. – BYU men’s golfer Peter Kuest was named West Coast Conference Golfer of the Month for the second consecutive month Tuesday, sharing the honors for October with Pepperdine’s Clay Feagler.

Kuest took first at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invite Oct. 25-27, tying the lowest three-round score in BYU golf history with a 197 (-16), including a career-low 64 in the third and final round. Prior to that, Kuest took third at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate Oct. 8-9, with a 204 (-6), and 32nd at the Nick Watney Invitational Oct. 1-2.

For the month, Kuest competed in three events and nine rounds, totaling 619 strokes (-20), with a 68.77 average. Below is Kuest’s round-by-round scoring from the three October tournaments.

UWGA Lady of the Year: Margaret McDonough

By Kurt Kragthorpe

Margaret McDonough Nay’s work on the book “100 Years of History – The Utah State Women’s Amateur” could be quantified in hours, but there may be a better illustration. She spent so much time in The Salt Lake Tribune’s office poring over microfilm that people thought she was a staff member.

That’s just one example of her dedication to the game and ability to immerse herself in projects such as organizing and staging tournaments. Speaking from 45 years of her own involvement in the game, Patty Brimley said McDonough “has done more in this state to promote women’s golf than anyone else I know.”

That’s why she will receive the UWGA Lady Award for 2018, recognition that she described as “a wonderful surprise.”

“It’s been a very rewarding experience all these years,” Nay said. “It’s just a meant a lot to me. The people I’ve had an opportunity to work with have just been awesome.”

The same could be said of her, with the 100-year anniversary of the Women’s Am serving as a career highlight. Being able to stage the tournament at The Country Club of Salt Lake City, with LPGA Tour legend Patty Sheehan appearing at the Champions Dinner, created a “magical” moment in Utah golf history. “It was something that I felt was important to celebrate,” she said. “It was awesome to be part of that.”

The tournaments that McDonough has staged at the Homestead Resort’s Crater Springs Golf Course and other venues are on a somewhat smaller scale, but no less meaningful to the participants. She’s known for thoroughly organizing the events for every level of player. “I’ve enjoyed it,” she said. “I’ll continue doing it as long as the women enjoy it.”

That’s likely to be for a long time, continuing her nearly lifelong involvement in golf, while making lifelong friends.

UGA Gold Club Award Winner: Reese Nielsen

By Kurt Kragthorpe

Reese Nielsen remembers playing Brigham City’s old nine-hole course, with par of 37. If that layout existed today, he would know many more details about it.

Nielsen directs the Utah Golf Association’s course rating team, charged with thoroughly studying a course to determine its difficulty and applying the numbers to the United States Golf Association’s handicapping system.

The process involves a lot of science and a little art, and Nielsen loves it. He has come a long way since the time fellow Thiokol employee Doug Wight asked him to help rate courses. “I had no clue what it was,” he said.

He’s an expert now, and his commitment to the rating effort has made him the 2018 recipient of the UGA’s Gold Club Award. The annual award recognizes “an individual who through significant achievement or unselfish service has contributed to the history and tradition of the game of golf in Utah, and whose personal integrity, sportsmanship, common courtesy, loyalty, and friendship earn him the love and respect of his fellow golfers.”

Nielsen is thrilled to join the previous 30 winners of the award. The news of his selection “kind of left me speechless,” he said, viewing the award as validation of how important course rating is to the UGA and its members.

“It makes you think you have done something productive and positive for golf in Utah,” said Nielsen, who lives in Perry, just south of Brigham City. “It allows you to give something back.”

The process is vital, and Nielsen views his work as evidence that the UGA is designed to support rank-and-file golfers, not only tournament players. “It basically affects everybody in the state that has a handicap index,” he said.

If not for the rating system, handicapping would be based only in regard to par, with no consideration for the tees played, the length of the course and other difficulty factors. Think about everything that comes into play, just on one hole: elevation change, psychological obstacles, landing zones for drives, length of approach shots, rough, bunkers and slope of the green.

With an engineering background, Nielsen enjoys the analytics involved in course rating. He maintains a rotation of visiting 13 of the 119 ratable courses in Utah each year, making sure the numbers are up to date. New courses are re-evaluated after five years.

And he’s thorough. “He’s a detailed guy, enough to drive you nuts,” said course rater James Mitchell, the UGA Volunteer of the Year. “If you want to do it well, Reese is the guy.”

UGA Volunteer of the Year: James Mitchell

By Kurt Kragthorpe

James Mitchell readily acknowledges that the occasional opportunity to play an exclusive golf facility in Utah is part of the attraction of rating courses.

A lot of work comes with that reward, though. And his dedication in attending nearly all of the UGA’s annual course-rating site visits made him the organization’s 2018 Volunteer of the Year.

Reese Nielsen, who directs the UGA course rating operation, values Mitchell as a longtime member of the group, helping with some of the less experienced workers, “Jim is one of the bedrock raters,” Nielsen said.

Mitchell has a knack of interacting with golfers, as they’re playing the course and the raters are trying to do their jobs.

That personable nature comes from his former career as a telephone company sales executive, and the North Salt Lake resident has joined in the rating process for nearly 20 years. Rating courses “is work,” Mitchell said. “Fun is not a word I would use to describe it, but it’s rewarding.” He emphasized “how much I enjoy working with such great people, the other volunteers. We have a cop, a minister, military generals, a teacher, business people and on and on, all donating their time and talents.”

That captures the fiber of the UGA. Mitchell is part of a vital operation. “I feel like I’m contributing in a very small way to the quality of golf in Utah,” he said.

It’s bigger than that, certainly. And in a golf community filled with volunteers, Mitchell deserves his turn to be recognized.

UGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year: Sue Nyhus

By Kurt Kragthorpe

In her 50s, Sue Nyhus discovered that golf courses were getting longer. That happens to a lot of golfers, right? In her case, it was not merely her imagination or the effect of age. The UGA has lengthened the setups for women, creating tougher tests for elite players.

As she said half-kiddingly, “The longer Naomi (Soifua) hits it, the farther back we go.”

Nyhus continues to thrive, playing longer courses in events such as the UGA Women’s Stroke Play Championship and the Mary Lou Baker Open. She found it refreshing, though, to play from the forward tees in the Women’s Senior Amateur at Hill Air Force Base’s Hubbard Golf Course. The short setup partly explains why she made two eagles in the second round, although no disclaimer is needed for shooting a 67.

Coupled with her opening-round 72, Nyhus won the event by nine strokes, symbolic of her strong showing all season on the way to the UGA Senior Women’s Player of the Year Award.

Nyhus then competed against mostly younger players in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur in St. Louis and advanced to match play, even while having to hit long clubs for her approach shots on par-4 holes.

Amid her duties as the Utah Valley University women’s golf coach, playing in tournaments is “a good escape for me. It’s the one place where I have to keep my focus on what I’m doing,” she said, as opposed to worrying about her job all the time.

Playing courses she enjoys, Nyhus tied for seventh place in both the Stroke Play (Hobble Creek) and Mary Lou Baker (Wasatch Mountain) tournaments. She shot 77-76 at Hobble Creek and 73-72 at Wasatch.

UGA Women’s Player of the Year: Carly Dehlin-Hirsch

By Kurt Kragthorpe

Qualifying to play in what’s traditionally (but not properly) known as the men’s State Amateur was among the 2018 highlights for the former Carly Dehlin, during the summer when she married BYU golfer Kelton Hirsch, a former State Am champion.

Yet that one-day golf achievement almost obscures the bigger story about Carly Hirsch, and how she became the UGA Women’s Player of the Year.

“It’s awesome; kind of crazy,” she said. Both descriptions apply to her rise in golf, with phenomenal improvement that followed her enrollment at Utah Valley University. UVU coach Sue Nyhus saw an athlete who could develop as a golfer, and that has happened to a level beyond what she realistically could have hoped.

A daughter of Devin Dehlin, executive director of the Utah Section PGA, Hirsch grew up playing mostly soccer. Her father has worked as a UVU assistant coach and helped her on the golf course, channeling her natural drive and athletic ability.

Now playing her senior year as a graduate student, Hirsch has thrived with the Wolverines and performed well in amateur events. Her UGA season was highlighted by a victory in the Women’s Stroke Play Championship, as she shot 70-72 at Hobble Creek Golf Course, UVU’s home venue.

“Down the stretch, I got a little nervous and I made a couple mistakes, but I was able to hold it together,” she said. “Overall, it was fun to feel the pressure a little bit. It was exciting.”

Hirsch also tied for second place in the Siegfried & Jensen Utah Women’s Open, losing a playoff for low amateur honors, and finished fifth in the Mary Lou Baker Open. As the defending champions, she and partner Jessica Sloot took second in the Utah Women’s Four-Ball Championship, and then Sloot beat her in the Women’s State Amateur on the way to the finals.

Summarizing Hirsch’s growth in the game, UVU coach Sue Nyhus said, “She kept pursuing competition, striving to learn more. You can never discount how hard Carly has worked at it and how much she loves it. It takes a special kind of person to do that.”

UGA Senior Men’s Player of the Year: Brigham Gibbs

By Kurt Kragthorpe

The deferred, second phase of Brigham Gibbs’ golf career has turned into a success story. Having basically given up the game for about a dozen years while concentrating on work, the former professional golfer has become a force on the Utah amateur circuit.

As a long hitter, he’s one of those relatively young (54) senior golfers who’s torn between competing in the regular and senior divisions. Gibbs focused more on the UGA’s senior schedule in 2018. That pretty much explains how he became the Senior Player of the Year.

Having returned to the game earlier this decade, Gibbs “found out I could still play golf,” he said. “It’s been fun. I like tournament golf.”

And he performed very well in competition this year, starting with the UGA Winterchamps. He made seven birdies in the final round at Sky Mountain Golf Course, rallying to beat Kurt Jamison by one point. Gibbs defeated Brett Sampson 1 up in the final match of the UGA Senior Amateur at Glenwild Golf Club, coming through in five matches that all went to the 17th hole or beyond. Gibbs wishes both he and Sampson could have played their best golf in that match, but he was happy to win and appreciated the opportunity to play Glenwild.

He enjoyed a much more dominant performance in the Utah Four-Ball Championship at Park Meadows Country Club, as he and partner Jon Wright never had to play more than 15 holes in any match. They took advantage of their length off the tee and teamed well, picking each other up with timely birdies.

Gibbs also tied for third place in the UGA Senior Stroke Play event at Glen Eagle Golf Course and won his division of the UGA Invitational at Jeremy Ranch, shooting 70-74 to beat Randy Hicken by one stroke.

UGA Men’s Player of the Year: Mitchell Schow

By Kurt Kragthorpe

Mitchell Schow’s T-shirt and fishing cap probably won’t be collectible items displayed in the Utah Golf Hall of Fame, but those artifacts are part of the story of how he became the 2018 UGA Player of the Year.

The University of Utah golfer from Park City High School chose that attire for the Richard C. Kramer Salt Lake City Amateur in June as way to emphasize just having fun on the golf course. The strategy worked in his third amateur victory of the season, as he shot 69-69 to beat Ute teammate Kyler Dunkle by two strokes at Bonneville Golf Course. Schow already had won the Sand Hollow Amateur, posting 67-68 to top Utah teammate Blake Tomlinson by three shots, and tied for first in the Bountiful Amateur.

Although he was upset in the first round of match play in the State Amateur, some other high finishes carried Schow to No. 1 in the Player Performance Rating, ahead of David Jennings and Dan Horner, and made him Player of the Year.

Schow said after the Salt Lake City Am that he succeeded in trying to take golf less seriously, outside of the college schedule. Yet lessons he learned from his Ute coaches about using a pre-shot routine and applying course-management techniques helped him in amateur events.

“It’s been a fun year,” Schow said. “I wasn’t doing anything special the whole year, just hitting the center of the greens and avoiding mistakes.”

He also appreciates how the UGA and the Utah Section PGA create an extensive tournament schedule. “Not many states give you the opportunities we have,” Schow said. “It’s just a world-class operation.”