Field Set for 37th Utah Mid-Amateur Championship

by Bailey Bagley

Three qualifiers this week set the 37th Utah Mid-Amateur Championship at Bonneville GC next week on May 16-17th. The UGA held 3 qualifiers this week at Glendale GC on Tuesday, May 7th, Sleepy Ridge GC on Wednesday, May 8th, and Davis Park GC on Thursday, May 9th to set up the Championship. 

Qualifying kicked off Tuesday with inclement weather at Glendale GC as the rain poured down on the players all morning and the wind picked up in the afternoon with small bouts of snow here and there. Matthew Berzovich -6 (66) finished as medalist with 19 players qualifying and the cut coming in at +5 (77). 

The next qualifier at Sleepy Ridge GC brought upon clear skies, a shining sun and a slight breeze. Devin Andrews -4 (68) finished as the medalist with 20 players qualifying and the cut coming in at +3 (75). 

Another 20 spots were filled as the final qualifier was held at Davis Park GC with a cold windy chill. Eric Anderson -3 (68) finished the day as the medalist and the cut for the day came in at +4 (75). 

The championship is set to be at Bonneville GC on May 16-17. Players will play 36 holes on Thursday, the 16th with a cut to the low 40 and ties for the final round on Friday the 17th.

For the championship webpage, Click Here.

Changes Coming to the 2024 Championship Season

In 2024, 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 2024:

Senior Winterchamps:

Senior Divisions will play on March 14-15 with the Men’s and Women’s Divisions to play on March 16-17. This will allow the overall field to increase from 224 to 336 total players. This change will give more UGA Members a chance to play in this popular event.

Championship Exemption Adjustments:

Exemptions have been added for the following championships:

Utah State Amateur Championship

• Increase in PPR exemptions from three to six
• Lowest three amateurs at the Utah Open

Utah Mid-Amateur Championship

• Most recent Utah Four-Ball Champions

Utah Senior State Amateur Championship

• Senior State Amateur Champion increased from one to two years
• Super-Senior State Amateur Champion increased from one to two years

Inaugural UGA Utah Junior & Girls’ Junior State Amateur Championships:

Click Here to read about the new championships.

Elimination of The Last Chance Qualifier:

Instead of the traditional Last Chance Qualifier, there will be an 11th regular qualifier for the Utah State Amateur Championship.

Senior Qualifier for Utah Four-Ball Championship:

There will now be a separate event for the senior divisions to qualify for the Utah Four-Ball Championship. This will allow more teams an opportunity to play in this growing event while continuing to maintain the same two-day format for the championship proper.

Traveling Team Adjustments:

• Utah-Arizona Shootout: will be expanded to include two senior women and two super-senior men representatives.
• Captain’s Cup: will be retired with funding being reallocated to other traveling team programming.
• Governor’s Cup: two at-large selections will be replaced with two super-senior selections.

Utah Goes Back-To-Back in Annual Shootout

For the second year in a row, Utah’s team of amateurs beat Arizona’s contingent in the 31st Annual Utah Arizona Shootout at Flagstaff Ranch Golf Club Oct. 2-3.

Utah won the Ryder Cup-style match in dominating fashion by sweeping all three rounds beginning with Four-Ball (14-4) and Foursomes (9.5-8.5) matches on day 1, followed by Singles matches (19.5-16.5) on day 2.

First-time ‘Shootout’ participant Davis Heslington secured three points for Utah in singles on the final day at Flagstaff Ranch, in conditions best described as chilly.

“We felt really good about our chances after how we performed on Day 1,” said Heslington.  “Even though we were technically the away team, we felt like the conditions favored Team Utah. Arizona had some excellent players but we played with a ton of confidence and it showed in the final results. This event was very competitive but also fun and I’m excited to try and make the team again next year.”

(L-R) Nuny Kham-One, Kelsey Chugg, Darren Kuhn, Dan Horner, Devin Tovey, David Jennings, Davis Heslington, Jeff Jolley, Justin Shluker, Elijah Turner, Steve Croft and Cameron Crawford.

Members of Utah’s team included Heslington (1st appearance), Justin Shluker (3rd appearance), Elijah Turner (1st appearance), Dan Horner (12th appearance), Cameron Crawford (5th appearance), David Jennings (9th appearance), Devin Tovey (2nd appearance), Steven Croft (3rd appearance), Darren Kuhn (2nd appearanace), Jeff Jolley (12th appearance), Kelsey Chugg (7th appearance), and Nuny Khamone (4th appearance).

Utah leads the series all-time 19-10-2 and has won 7 of the last 10 meetings. 2023 participants Dan Horner and Jeff Jolley are tied for 2nd all-time in appearances for Team Utah, just one behind the record of 13 appearances for Darrin Overson. For players with at least 5 appearances, Kelsey Chugg’s individual average points scored is the highest at 4.46.

Click here for final leaderboard

Utah Arizona Shootout recap feature written by UGA Director of Championships & Golf Operations, Colin Clawson.

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