News
Check out what has been happening in Utah Golf.
New Records Set in Opening Round of Winterchamps at Copper Rock
Utah Tech freshman David Liechty wasted no time making history in the opening round of the 2026 Utah Golf Association’s 36-hole UGA Winterchamps tournament presented by Pizza Hut at Copper Rock Golf Club.
Liechty lit up the championship layout with a remarkable 11-under-par 61, establishing a new competitive course record while earning 58 Stableford points, the most ever recorded in a single round in Winterchamps history. His remarkable round set the tone for the opening day of one of the UGA’s most anticipated early-season amateur events.
Utah Tech Freshman, David Liechty
The Utah Tech standout carded 9 birdies, an eagle and 8 pars — a performance that will be difficult to chase down as the tournament continues Sunday at SunRiver Golf Club.
Anchored by a red‑hot putter, Liechty summarized the day simply: “I think I made 500 feet of putts today.”
The tone was set early after a bold equipment change. Coming off a “poor putting week” at last week’s Bandon Dunes Championship, Liechty put a new putter in the bag and saw immediate results.
“I hit 11 putts on my first nine holes. It was just kind of like, if I was on the green, I felt I was probably making it. That just helped my confidence a lot and gave me a lot of momentum, and then I just kind of was riding the putter from there.”
Skyline High’s Austen Shelley is 8 points back of Liechty. Stockton Penman and Oscar Maxfield turned in 48 points a piece at Copper Rock and are tied for third with Kenny Palmer and Jackson Rhees.
Rounding out the top ten are Kaha’l’Olelo Helm and Luke Smith (T7 47 points) and Drew Wilson and Will Pederson (T9 46 points).
Navy Hubbs tees off on the 18th tee at SunRiver Golf Club in the opening round of UGA Women’s Winterchamps.
The women’s field opened the Winterchamps today at SunRiver Golf Club, with reigning UGA Utah Girls’ Junior Amateur champion Navy Hubbs turning in the day’s top performance. Hubbs posted a 2-under 70 in stroke play, good for 43 Stableford points and a three-point lead over Utah Tech’s Jane Olson.
Utah Tech commit Kate Walker (39 points) and current Trailblazer teammates Mia Cesarek (38 points) and Samantha Phelan (36 points) round out the top five on the leaderboard.
Click here for all UGA Winterchamps division leaderboards.
Story and photos by Fairways Media/Randy Dodson and Garrit Johnson.