News

Check out what has been happening in Utah Golf.

The Utah Senior State Amateur – “Unbelievable”

Idaho resident Darren Kuhn (photo) and long-time Utah golfer Rick Lloyd take home exciting wins from Salt Lake City’s Mountain Dell Lake Course.

Darren Kuhn watched his drive land far down the No. 1 fairway of Mountain Dell Golf Course. As he walked off the tee box, he said wryly, “Better than the first one.”

When he topped his opening shot of the final match of the 29th Senior State Amateur, with the ball rolling about 50 yards down the cart path, nobody could have imagined what would unfold on that hole a few hours later. Kuhn’s 35-foot eagle putt gave the Pocatello, Idaho, resident a victory in a volatile, 19-hole competition Thursday with Salt Lake City’s Brandon Hargett.

The short version of Kuhn’s four days in Parleys Canyon: He was 7 over par through four holes of the stroke-play qualifying round before recovering to post a 77, he never had to play beyond No. 16 in any of his first four matches, he started the final duel shakily and had a four-hole losing streak on the back nine … and he packed a trophy into his car for the drive home on I-15.

No wonder “unbelievable” was his word of choice afterward.

Read the complete championship recap feature in Fairways Photo Journal by long-time Utah sports journalist and Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe, CLICK HERE