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The Long Road to the Title Begins Monday at Oakridge

For four days this week, Oakridge Country Club will ask one simple question.

Who can survive?

The 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur Championship begins Monday with 80 players chasing one of Utah’s oldest and most prestigious amateur titles. Yet before anyone can think about lifting the trophy Thursday afternoon, they first must survive Monday’s 18-hole stroke play qualifier. Only the low 32 players will advance to match play, where five consecutive victories stand between them and the title of champion. The winner also earns an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, along with a spot on the 2026 Utah-Arizona Shootout Team if eligible.

That combination of stroke play and match play has long made the Utah Women’s State Amateur one of the state’s most demanding championships.

“It’s a gut check like nothing else,” Utah Golf Radio host Paul Pugmire said. “It is one on one. You’re staring your opponent in the eyes. If the course kicks you, you move on. You lose one hole and go to the next. It requires a different kind of competitor.”

Kelsey Chugg is looking to etch her name on the Women’s State Amateur trophy for the seventh time.

That challenge has produced many of Utah’s legendary champions, including six-time winner Kelsey Chugg, whose match play record has become one of the defining accomplishments in Utah golf.

This year’s championship returns to Oakridge Country Club, where precision and patience are often rewarded as much as power. Every player begins Monday on equal footing, but by Thursday afternoon only one will have navigated four demanding days of competition.

Defending champion Arden Louchheim returns this week looking to defend the title she earned at the 119th Utah Women’s State Amateur Championship at Wasatch Mountain State Park’s Lake Course.

Defending champion Arden Louchheim knows what it takes.

Last summer, Louchheim captured the biggest victory of her golf career, earning both the Utah Women’s State Amateur title and a trip to the U.S. Women’s Amateur. A year later, she returns with a different perspective.

“Winning this tournament last year was the biggest moment in my golf career,” Louchheim said last week at the UGA hosted Media Day. “It got me to go to Bandon Dunes and play in the U.S. Amateur, which was phenomenal and probably the coolest week of my athletic life.”

Since then, however, golf has taken a back seat to another passion.

“I’ve definitely had a priority shift in the last year,” she said. “I really decided I want to focus on broadcasting, and that’s what I see happening in my future. Broadcasting is my number one priority. That’s what I’m focusing on, and golf is something that I get to do to just unwind and enjoy myself.”

Louchheim recently completed three years of collegiate golf at Nebraska and will return this fall to pursue a master’s degree in professional broadcast journalism. Along the way, she has discovered her identity behind the microphone, calling dozens of Nebraska athletic events while also serving as the voice of the Ogden Raptors this summer. She’ll return to school and pursue a Masters degree.

“It’s more just a vehicle for me to be there for another year and call games,” she said. “I get to call 30 or 40 games a year at Nebraska. I feel like I’ve grown so much there and discovered an identity that’s totally unrelated to being a golfer or an athlete.”

That doesn’t mean the competitive fire has disappeared.

“I’m not going to stand here and tell you I don’t want to win,” she said with a smile. “I’d love to defend.”

At the same time, she recognizes the challenge that awaits.

“I think if I can get to the quarterfinals, that would be a solid showing. But with 80 people it’s going to be competitive. It’s only less than half the field that makes match play. From a results perspective, I’d love to make it to day three. From an enjoyment perspective, I’m just happy to be around people I don’t get to see all the time.”

The Women’s State Amateur champion earns an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, along with a spot on this year’s Utah-Arizona Shootout Team if eligible.

Louchheim also isn’t ready to close the chapter on competitive golf.

“My reason for not trying to go pro was to maintain my amateur status and be able to play these tournaments,” she said. “I’d be surprised if this is the end of my amateur golf career.”

While Louchheim headlines the field as defending champion, she won’t lack for challengers.

Six-time champion Kelsey Chugg once again enters among the favorites after reaching last year’s semifinals. Former champion Grace Summerhays, a late entry, knows how to win and brings national experience. Whitney Banz, Ashley Lam, Samantha Phelan, Sydney Richards, Jane Olson, Adley Nelson and Faith Vui all have the talent to make a deep run through match play.

Whitney Banz has her eye on the 36-hole final match this year at Oakridge Country Club. Photo courtesy BYU Athletics.

The next generation is equally capable of making noise. Kaylee Westfall enters while having strong summer, while 2025 quarterfinalists Aadyn Long, Berlin Long, Rachel Lillywhite and Adley Nelson all return looking to take another step toward the title.

Notably absent from this year’s championship are Kate Walker, who is currently touring Open Championship venues in the United Kingdom and attending this week’s championship at Royal Birkdale, along with Aspen Taylor, Navy Hubbs, Kai Post and Paige Anne, who are representing the Utah Junior Golf Association’s Team Utah at this week’s Girls Junior Americas Cup Team Matches in Salem, OR.

Pugmire believes the championship format eventually reveals the player most prepared for the moment.

“Ultimately, it is shot makers who can hit the shot or make the putt when it matters,” he said during the 128th playing of the Utah State Amateur last week. “That’s a skill that transfers across both formats. That’s why we end up talking about the same players. They’re the players who can deliver the shot when it matters.”

The road begins Monday morning with one round of stroke play. Thirty-two players will advance to match play. Five days later, one champion will remain.

Click here for the 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur stroke play qualifying pairings and tee times.

120th Utah Women’s State Amateur advance feature written by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson. Photography by Fairways Media/Garrit Johnson unless otherwise credited.