News

Team Utah Rallies for Victory at Mid-Am Team Event

The Utah Golf Association’s Team Utah won the 2024 Mid-Am Team Championship by two strokes over the team from the Northern California Golf Association. Steele DeWald, a member of the Utah team, was the individual champion in the 54-hole championships held Aug. 22-24 on the Wolf Course at the Las Vegas Paiute Golf Resort.

The tournament featured individual and team stroke play competition. In the team portion, three of the four players’ scores were used on each hole over the three rounds. A Mid-Am event features players 25 years of age and older.

Las Vegas’ Kenny Ebalo, who is a tournament committee member and took on the host duties this week, said the event showcased outstanding talent.

“The cool part about this tournament is the camaraderie with the teammates’ interaction,” Ebalo said. “These guys usually spend the year going up against each other and now they are rooting teammates on.”

This was the eighth year of the event and second year in Las Vegas. Ebalo said the tournament being held on the Wolf Course really highlighted the event.

“The Wolf Course is one of the hardest courses in Las Vegas to begin with,” Ebalo said. “Add in 15-20 mile an hour winds with gusts up to 30 miles an hour and these guys really played well. We had everything from disaster holes to a hole-in-one today (Utah’s Kenny Palmer on the 15th hole). It was just a great three days.”

For Dewald, he thinks the event is terrific and hopes it continues to build momentum.

“It was a great event this week and I just hope it continues to grow and we get 50 states in there and just crush it,” Dewald said. “It’s awesome.”

Team Competition

Utah rallied for the victory as they played the final two holes in three-under-par while Northern California played that same stretch at even-par. In the process, they defended their title from 2023, even tough the team was made up entirely of new players.

Team Utah: (L-R) Cameron Crawford, Tate McVay, Kenny Palmer and Steele DeWald.

Three of the Utah players put birdies on the scorecard over those final two holes.

“We played really well as a team today,” DeWald said. “It was brutal out there.”

He said the final two holes showed the poise of the team.

“We had a great finish,” he said of the three birdies over the two holes. “We stayed patient all day. It’s a grind out there but we really finished strong.”

He added the team format was one that brought out the best in players for their teams.

“We’re always rooting for each other,” DeWald said. “We always want to see everyone play well and it was cool to see everyone contribute. It was definitely a team effort especially with all of these good players out here.”

Team Utah’s Kenny Palmer (Glenwild) aced the par 3, 15th island hole during the final round.

Team Utah has now won the Mid-Am Team Championship two years in a row.

Top Three Teams: Utah, 220-215-213—648, Northern California, 219-216-215—650, Nevada, 223-215-215—653

Individual Competition

Steele DeWald had an eagle in each of the first two rounds en route to the individual title beating Mike Perchak, from the Northern California team, by two strokes. DeWald’s teammate Kenny Palmer came earned a third place finish with a 215 total.

“It was a great event,” DeWald said. “This course is awesome and I thought it was in great shape. The greens are pure and I was really impressed by the course. I didn’t know this was out here. It definitely is really well kept and it was a true test..”

He said there were a number of reasons he found success this week.

“You can’t force it out there,” he said. “You have to be patient and that’s not always easy. You’re going to have stuff that happens but you’ve got to stay focused. I also putted really well but they didn’t always fall. I did make a lot of par putts from seven-to-eight feet and that really helped keep the round going in the right direction.”

In the end, he added the tournament was impressive in that it is one that brings players together.

“I’m just meeting some of these guys for the first time,” he said. “And over the three days I played with some great players and some really good guys. To add a ‘W’ in is always nice.”

Top Three Individuals: Steele DeWald, 71-69-71—211, Mike Perchak, 71-72-70—213, Kenny Palmer, 70-72-73—215

Click here for complete results of the 2024 Mid-Am Team Championship.

2024 Mid-Am Team Championship recap feature written for Fairways Media by Bill Bowman of Las Vegas Golf Insider. Photos provided by the Southern Nevada Golf Association.