News

Utah Senior State Am: Jon Wright, Rick Lloyd and Michael Hacker claim titles

The silver trophies for Utah Golf Association championships come in pairs for Jon Wright. With a victory Thursday in the 31st Utah Senior State Amateur, Wright added a second senior award to go with his two State Am titles.

He would be happy with an unmatched set of trophies.

“I want to get some more Senior State Ams,” Wright said after a 5-and-4 defeat of David Booth in the18-hole final match at Hill Air Force Base’s Hubbard Memorial Golf Course.

Two-time Utah Senior State Amateur champion, Jon Wright.

Wright already is in his own class. He’s one shy of the three Senior Am titles of Brigham Gibbs, his friend and Four-Ball partner, but only Wright can claim two State Am victories and two Senior Am championships in these three-plus decades.

Wright’s run of four UGA major trophies has come in 13 seasons, starting fairly soon after he gave up his pro golf pursuits. He’s compiling a record similar to that of the late Arlen Peacock, a lifelong amateur and Utah Golf Hall of Fame member, who won State Am titles at ages 39 and 44 and took the Senior Am championship in 1995 at 62.

As of Wright’s win in 2020, shortly after he turned 50, multiple Senior Am titles seemed likely. The variable is his back issues, which kept him from contending again until this week.

“If my back doesn’t hurt, I can play. … (But) I’m starting to understand how limited my opportunities are,” Wright said. “I just don’t know how many of them I have left.”

The other road block this week was a bracket that forced Wright, as the No. 8 seed, to go through No. 1 John Owen in the quarterfinals and Gibbs (No. 21) in the semifinals. As he said, “How about that draw?”

None of Jon Wright’s five matches went past No. 16 at Hubbard Golf Club.

Even so, “I knew this was a good opportunity,” Wright said. “My iron play is really good right now, and I’ve been driving it good enough.”

Other than an errant drive that led to Wright’s losing the par-5 No. 1, he was in command vs. Booth, who was thrilled to reach this stage. A putting tip from longtime PGA Professional Wayne Fisher aided Wright’s putting, and he was dominant at Hubbard. None of his five matches went past No. 16.

SUPER-SENIORS

Rick Lloyd’s first Super-Senior title in the Senior State Amateur came in 2022, when he was 66. And then the Super-Senior minimum age went from 65 to 60.

The modified age group makes his second win more impressive, capping a week when he shot his age in the stroke-play qualifying round. Lloyd never had to play No. 18 in his four matches, ending with a 3-and-2 win over Randy Hicken, the reigning UGA Super-Senior Player of the Year (and likely repeat winner). Hicken also finished second among Super-Seniors in the Utah Senior Stroke Play Championship in May.

Rick Lloyd has now won the Super Senior title in two of the last three years.

“It’s a big deal,” Lloyd said of adding a second title. “As you get older, your skills diminish and you get a little shorter (off the tee), but I’ve worked hard on flexibility and core exercising. Trying to keep up with these guys is not easy.”

Driving accuracy was Lloyd’s biggest strength at Hubbard, where he made three birdies and no bogeys in 16 holes Thursday.

LEGENDS

Michael Hacker is resisting the aging process, in multiple ways. Not only does he look and play like someone much younger than 73, he had to convince himself to compete in the 70-over division this year.

Michael Hacker has won both the Super Senior title (2017) and now the Legends title.

When he entered the Senior Am, “It took me a long time just to press the (Legends) button,” Hacker said. “I had to think about it. But it’s time.”

Hacker’s 4-and-3 win over Utah Golf Hall of Fame member Todd Barker completed his run through the eight-golfer bracket and added to his 2017 Super-Senior title. The St. George resident took the No. 5 seed into match play and concluded all three duels prior to No. 18.

Barker, who’s battling melanoma at age 70, won tough matches vs. David Fischer and defending champion Doug Marriott to reach the finals. Hacker was just too steady for him, though. “I really hit the driver good today,” Hacker said. “Just kept myself right in play.”

Click here for the complete match play bracket scoring of the 31st Utah Senior State Amateur.

Utah Senior State Amateur championship match recaps written by Fairways Media senior writer Kurt Kragthorpe. Photography provided by Fairways Media/Garrit Johnson.