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Liechty’s Record Run Headlines Winterchamps

The Utah Golf Association’s championship calendar opened in memorable fashion at the annual Winterchamps tournament presented by Pizza Hut, where Utah Tech freshman David Liechty delivered a performance that will be talked about in Utah golf circles for some time.

Liechty set the tone in Saturday’s opening round at Copper Rock Golf Club, carding a remarkable (-11) 61, the lowest competitive round ever recorded at the Hurricane layout. In the tournament’s Modified Stableford format, the round was even more remarkable. Liechty’s card featured nine birdies and an eagle, good for 58 points, establishing a new single-round points record in Winterchamps history.

David Liechty’s Winterchamps opening round at Copper Rock set new records to start the 2026 championship season.

“I bought a new putter two days ago,” Liechty said. “I just made everything I looked at. I think I had 11 putts on the front nine. If I was on the green, there was a pretty good chance it was going in.”

The putter? The same TaylorMade Spider model used by Scottie Scheffler, and for one unforgettable round in southern Utah, it looked just as effective in Liechty’s hands.

While the fireworks came on day one, the championship itself required a different kind of golf on Sunday at SunRiver Golf Club. Armed with a 8-point lead over Skyline High’s Austen Shelley, Liechty didn’t need another record round. He simply needed to manage the extremely windy conditions which caused a 45-minute delay to the shotgun start.

Sunday’s final round was played in punishing winds, and Liechty’s scorecard looked far different than the clean one he posted at Copper Rock. His final round 74 included three double bogeys and two bogeys, but his five birdies and the Stableford format softened the damage. His 38 points were enough to secure the title. His 98 total is just two points shy of Nick Killpack’s 100-points in 2009.

In his post tournament interview Liechty summed it up perfectly.

“I think the only way someone wins a tournament with three doubles is if it’s a Stableford tournament, if you shoot 61 the first day, and if it’s blowing 40 miles an hour,” he said. “And I got all three of those.”

Liechty credited a new putter for his success in capturing his first UGA championship title.

Even with the cushion from his opening round, the final round still required patience. A shaky start threatened to bring the field back into contention before Liechty steadied himself with a well-struck iron early in the round.

“I made a bogey and a double to start,” he said. “I knew it might get closer than I wanted. But I hit a really good shot on the third hole, a flighted four-iron straight into the wind to about 25 feet. That kind of settled me down.”

The victory marks Liechty’s first UGA championship title, a milestone moment and an impressive way to begin the 2026 UGA championship season.

“I love winning golf tournaments,” he said. “I’ve had a couple rough months where my swing hasn’t felt great, so to get a win means a lot. It tells me my game is trending in the right direction.”

Kenny Palmer turned in a strong two-day performance with 48 Stableford points at Copper Rock and 44 at SunRiver for a 92-point total, good for a runner-up finish.

Following Liechty at the top of the leaderboard were Kenny Palmer (92 points), Peyton Hastings (88), defending champion Drake Harvey (87), with Ben Wilson (86) rounding out the top five. Dan Horner’s (-5) 67 and 46 points was the low round, high points earner at SunRiver.

Click here for the UGA Winterchamps final round leaderboard.

Story and photos by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson and Garrit Johnson.