News
Check out what has been happening in Utah Golf.
Utah Senior State Am, Day 3: Defending champion Brigham Gibbs falls to Four-Ball partner Jon Wrigh
Next week, they will be partners. This week, they became rivals.
The semifinals of the 31st Utah Senior State Amateur Championship produced friendly battles in two divisions Wednesday at Hill Air Force Base’s Hubbard Memorial Golf Course.
2020 Senior State Amateur champion, Jon Wright.
Jon Wright topped defending champion Brigham Gibbs 4 and 3 in a Senior match; Randy Hicken defeated Mike Jorgensen 2 up in a Super-Senior duel. Wright-Gibbs and Hicken-Jorgensen will comprise a couple of tough teams in next week’s Utah Four-Ball Championship in Payson, but only one-half of each pair could advance at Hubbard.
Wright, the 2020 winner, will meet David Booth in Thursday’s 18-hole Senior final match. Hicken will oppose Rick Lloyd in the Super-Senior (60-over) division and Todd Barker will play Michael Hacker for the Legends (70-over) title.
Wright was overwhelming Tuesday, winning each of his matches 7 and 5. What he did Wednesday may have been more impressive. He defeated No. 1 seed John Owen 3 and 2 in the quarterfinals, then was in control throughout his match with Gibbs, a three-time champion who’s about to turn 60. Gibbs won the Senior State Am title last August at Alpine Country Club and took the Senior Stroke Play Championship in May at Fox Hollow GC.
David Booth will face Jon Wright in the championship match.
Booth emerged from a good semifinal battle with 2022 winner Darren Kuhn. Booth trailed through 14 holes, but won Nos. 15 and 18 with birdies to earn a 1-up victory.
SUPER-SENIORS
Jorgensen nearly completed a remarkable day, only to have Hicken respond with birdies on two of the last three holes as the reigning UGA Super-Senior Player of the Year took a 2-up win. In the quarterfinals, defending champion and No. 1 seed Craig Wilson birdied No. 17 to tie the match, then Jorgensen birdied the par-5 No. 1 to claim an extra-holes victory.
Rick Lloyd will face Randy Hicken in the Super-Senior (60-over) division.
Lloyd, the No. 2 seed, ended each of his matches prior to No. 18. He downed Richard Parkinson 2 and 1 and took a 4-and-3 win over Steven Borget.
LEGENDS
In his first year of Legends eligibility, Barker has survived two tough matches in this eight-golfer bracket. After going 19 holes vs. David Fischer, the Utah Golf Hall of Fame member lost a 3-up lead over defending champion Doug Marriott, only to win No. 18 with a par in the semifinals.
Hacker, a playoff contestant in the Senior Stroke Play’s Legends competition in May, was tied with Larry Beech through 10 holes of the semifinals, before securing a 2-and-1 victory.
Click here for complete match play scoring.
Day 3 match play recap written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe. Photos provided by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson.