2023 Utah Senior Women’s Champion to Receive 2024 LPGA Senior Championship Exemption

September 6, 2023

The Utah Golf Association in partnership with the LPGA Senior Championship and Copper Rock Golf Course are excited to announce a new exemption for the 2023 Utah Senior Women’s State Amateur Championship. The 2023 Utah Senior Women’s State Amateur Champion will receive an exemption for the 2024 LPGA Senior Championship being held at Copper Rock Golf Course on May 20-25, 2024, in Hurricane, Utah. This will be the first time this event has been held in Utah since its inauguration in 2017.

Click Here for more information about the LPGA Senior Championship

About the 2023 Utah Senior Women’s State Amateur Championship

The 2023 Utah Senior Women’s State Amateur Championship is being held at Wasatch Mountain Golf Course (Lake Course) in Midway, Utah and will feature the state’s best senior women (ages 50+).  After 36-holes of stroke play, the top four ladies will move onto a four-lady match play bracket. The Senior Women’s State Amateur Champion will be determined by the winner of the four-lady bracket. This championship will be held September 20-23, 2023. Registration for this event remains open until September 14, 2023 at 4:00pm MST.

Click Here for Registration and More Information

Utah State Amateur Spectator Information

Utah State Amateur Spectator Information

Spectator Carts Not Allowed: Spectator carts will not be permitted under any circumstance. For individuals with mobile impairments, please review the last paragraph of our Spectator Cart Policy – At The Country Club. A shuttle will be provided to and from a viewing area. Click Here to review policy.

Lunch Available for Purchase – Cash Only: Will be served each day of the championship.  For stroke play rounds, there will be boxed lunches available at the halfway house. Starting with match play, there will be a buffet that is served in the Main Dining Room and will be open from 11:00am-4:00pm. If caddies or spectators wish to purchase lunch, that option will be available at a rate of $25 each day. However, all purchases will be cash only.

Clubhouse Access & Policies: Players, caddies, and spectators will not have access to the clubhouse beyond the golf shop, halfway house, and main dining area. The Country Club also has a strict no cell phone policy inside the clubhouse and a dress code that all must follow. Click here to review the dress code.

Limited Parking: There is limited parking available at The Country Club. All spectators should plan to carpool where possible and should also be prepared to park on a public road outside the club, if necessary.

To View the Championship Homepage: Click Here

Last Chance Qualifier to Feature Randomized Roster

by Colin Clawson

Last Chance Qualifier to Feature Randomized Roster

The Last Chance Qualifier for the Utah State Amateur will have a different registration process in 2023. In previous years, Utah State Amateur hopefuls had to register within seconds of registration opening in order to get a spot in Last Chance Qualifying.

In order to give all interested competitors sufficient time to register, registration will open at 8:00am on Thursday, June 15th and will remain open until 10:00am of the same day. Players that register in this window will be put on a pending registration list. The UGA will then use it’s tournament software, Golf Genius, to randomize that pending registration list. The top 84 players on that randomized list will be promoted into the field and the rest will be put on a waitlist.

Payment is not required to register for the pending registration list.  Only those that gain entry into the Last Chance Qualifier will be charged the $80 entry fee.

The Last Chance Qualifier is allotted 4 spots into the championship. It is being held at Glendale Golf Course on Friday, June 16.

For more information and to register for the Last Chance Qualifier, CLICK HERE.

Road to The Country Club Begins at Fox Hollow

by Colin Clawson

Road to The Country Club Begins at Fox Hollow

The first qualifier for the 125th Utah State Amateur is in the books with 12 individuals punching their ticket to The Country Club in June. Alpine Country Club Member Ryan Barber finished as medalist at -4 (68) carding two eagles and three birdies.

With the championship field being cut to 156 players for this year and beyond, many suspected that it would take a much lower number to qualify than in year’s past. That proved to be true with the cut coming in at +2 (74).

The 125th Utah State Amateur is being held June 26-July 1 at The Country Club in Salt Lake City.

For full results, CLICK HERE.

Field Set for 36th Utah Mid-Amateur Championship at Hubbard GC

by Colin Clawson

Field Set for 36th Utah Mid-Amateur Championship

The newly expanded Utah Mid-Amateur Championship field is set after 3 qualifiers last week. The UGA held 3 qualifiers for this event for the first time in history while expanding the field to 84 players.

Qualifying started with two separate fields at Stonebridge GC; one in the morning and one in the afternoon. In the morning qualifier, Jack Holmgren (-2) 70 finished as medalist with 22 players qualifying and the cut coming in at +6 (78). In the afternoon qualifier, Joshua White (-4) 68 was medalist with 22 players qualifying and the cut coming in at +6 (78).

The final qualifier was held at Fox Hollow GC with Brady Stanger firing (-3) 69 to finish as medalist with the next best score coming 5 strokes back at (+2) 74. 22 players qualified with the cut coming in at +6 (78).

The championship is set to be held at Hubbard GC on Hill Air Force Base on May 18-19. Players will play 36 holes on Thursday the 18th with a cut to the low 40 and ties for the final round on Friday the 19th.

Notable players in the field include BYU Golfer Keanu Akina, 2022 Salt Lake City Amateur & Open Champion Justin Shluker, and Former State Am & Mid-Am Champion Darrin Overson.

For the championship webpage, CLICK HERE.

Mulhall Sisters Win Women’s Spring Open

17-year old Ali and 14-year old Molli Mulhall went wire-to-wire to win the UGA Spring Open at Sunbrook Golf Club. The duo posted rounds of 90 and 66 points in the team stableford tournament to hold off Kareen Larson and Jessica Smith, who finished runner-up in back-to-back years.

Up to this point, Ali and Molli had never played as partners in a team event. “It was a lot of fun today. We didn’t get to play against each other, so it was good to be partners and just sisters,” said Ali.

Ali also tied her career low round of 63 on Monday which included seven birdies and an eagle. Both Ali and Molli are looking forward to teeing it up with the UGA again in the events to come this summer.

The Spring Open was the second event in the UGA’s Women’s Championship schedule. The next event will be the Utah Women’s Four-Ball Championship at Toana Vista Golf Club on May 24-25.

To see full results for the UGA Spring Open, please CLICK HERE.

By Max Butcher

Utah Mid-Amateur Expanding

April 5, 2023

Due to overwhelming demand, the UGA is expanding the 2023 Utah Mid-Amateur Championship held at Hubbard Memorial Golf Course. The championship field is set to increase from 72 to 84 players. Additionally, with extensive waitlists on each of the existing qualifiers, there is a third qualifier being added at Stonebridge GC on May 9th with afternoon tee times.

Registration for this new qualifier will open to the public on April 6 at 8:00am.

Click Here to Register

Changes Coming to 2023 UGA Championship Season

In 2023 players should expect a few changes to the format of some UGA Championships. These changes are being made after careful consideration, factoring in the current needs of the championship, and UGA member input. Here is what to expect in 2023:

Super-Senior Age Change & Player of the Year:

In an effort to increase the level of competition in both the Super-Senior and Legends divisions, the age for the Super-Senior division has been reduced from 65 to 60. This age bracket now matches the age brackets at the Utah Section PGA and creates a more natural progression for players to advance from Senior (50), to Super-Senior (60), and finally to the Legends (70) Division. In addition to this change, the UGA has added a Super-Senior Player of the Year Award and will count the Top 6 events when calculating PPR rankings.

Winterchamps:

This championship will now feature maximum capacities per division. These were calculated based on historical data and are intended to allow all UGA Members with a chance to play in this popular event. Additionally, with ever increasing popularity in the state, it has become more difficult to obtain golf courses as host sites. With that in mind, Winterchamps will be reduced from 3 sites to 2 sites.

Spring Open & Women’s Four-Ball:

Similar to Winterchamps, teams will now be able to choose their pairing for Round 1 of each competition. Teams will be re-paired for Round 2 based on results from Round 1.

Utah Mid-Amateur Championship:

Given the historical success and popularity of this event, this event will now expand to two separate one-day 18-hole qualifiers to be able to compete in the championship proper.

Utah State Amateur Championship:

Going forward, the field size for the Utah State Amateur will be reduced to 156 players. As such, the UGA has greatly reduced the exemptions for this event. To review this list, please Click Here.

Utah Senior State Amateur Championship:

This championship will now feature a Legends Division. 48 senior players, 24 super-senior players, and 12 legends players will qualify to championship week through regional qualifying or through exemption.

Utah Senior Women’s Amateur Championship:

New in 2023, the four-lady match play bracket will be played with the semifinals on day 3 and the final match on day 4.

Utah PGA Professionals Win Governor’s Cup; UGA Ladies Secure Goddard Cup in Annual Ryder Cup Style Events

By Jesse Dodson

Every year the top Utah Section PGA Professionals and Utah Golf Association amateurs compete in the Governor’s Cup and Goddard Cup, a Ryder Cup styled event at TalonsCove Golf Course in Saratoga Springs, Utah.

For the first time since 2019, Team Utah PGA secured the Governor’s Cup earning 21.5 points to the UGA’s 10.5, earning one point per match Sept. 27^th.

“I feel ecstatic about it,” Team Utah PGA Captain and Sunset View Head Pro Casey Fowles said. “It was fun to play like we did, it’s been a hard event for us, playing against the young kids, college kids and the others that are amazing players.”

The morning consisted of Foursome matches where the PGA Pros picked up a big lead, winning five matches out right and earning half-points it two other matches – earning a 6-2 lead going into afternoon Four-Ball and Singles matches.

The Utah PGA seniors Tracy Zobell, Ryan Rhees, Henry White and Paul Phillips took care of business, winning each of the Foursome and Four-Ball matches and only losing one Singles match.

Of the 24 points available in the afternoon matches, Utah PGA earned 15.5, leading to the 20.5 to 10.5 victory.

Highlighting the Four-Ball matches were Fowles and Bonneville Head Pro Jordan Gibbs, who defeated Utah State Amateur champion Zac Jones and top Utah junior golfer Cooper Jones 4&3.

Davis County Golf Professionals Zach Johnson and Dustin Volk also won their match against Brody Childs and Devin Tovey 4&3.

Gibbs won his Singles match against Cooper 5&4 while Rhees and Phillips also claimed 5&4 victories.

In the Goddard Cup, Team UGA essentially had control of the lead the whole day from the opening tee shots.

Team UGA had a clean sweep of the morning Foursome matches, earning a 3-0 lead. BYU freshmen Sunbin Seo and Berlin Long won their morning match 6&5 over Golftec’s Xena Motes and Utah PGA’s Cassie Campos.

The Utah Section professionals made a surge in the afternoon Four-Ball and Singles matches with Motes and Utah Golf Hall of Fame member Sue Nyhus earning a point with a 4&3 victory over Seo and TalonsCove General Manager Kareen Larson, while Carly Dehlin-Hirsch, Motes, Nyhus and Campos all won their singles matches, earning another 4 points.

However, the UGA ladies earned key victories with BYU’s Adeline Anderson and Long winning their Four-Ball match and Sarah Salvo and Annette Gaiotti securing their Four-Ball point as well.

Anderson and Salvo’s afternoon play helped carry the UGA to a 7-5 victory over Team Utah PGA, their third win in four years.

“The Goddard and Governor’s Cups are such a fun day of camaraderie between the UGA and PGA,” said UGA Operations Manager Colin Clawson. “While we were disappointed that our three-peat bid fell short in the Governor’s Cup, we are thrilled to be able to bring the Goddard Cup back to the UGA. The ladies were disappointed last year so it was fun to see their excitement as they came out victorious.”

Governor’s Cup Results: Click Here

Goddard Cup Results: Click Here

Team McMillan Defeats Team Gibbs to Secure Captain’s Cup Victory

Team McMillan Defeats Team Gibbs to Secure Captain’s Cup Victory

What is the Captain’s Cup?

The Utah Golf Association’s annual Captain’s Cup features the best senior and super-senior players in Utah. Two teams square off in a Ryder Cup-style match. Teams are chosen by the top-two players on the Senior Player Performance Rankings who serve as captains. Their teammates are the top 10 seniors and the top four super-seniors on the Senior Player Performance Rankings.

This year’s competition was held at Jeremy Ranch Golf & Country Club and included morning matches, lunch and afternoon four-ball and singles matches. 

Team McMillan started the competition off strong winning three of the four matches and finishing with a nine to three (points) victory in the alternate shot portion of the event. Team captain Shane McMillan and partner Jon Rhodes earned 3 points to increase the lead. 

In the afternoon, Team Gibbs took control of the four-ball portion winning 6.5 to 5.5. The matches went all square at two wins per team. Team McMillan took the points in the singles match portion ending in a 28.5 to 18.5 final victory for Team McMillan.

The UGA thanks Jeremy Ranch Golf & Country Club for hosting the event.

For full results, CLICK HERE