Author: Jesse Dodson
Davis Park Assistant Professional Zach Johnson and Brigham Young University commit Zach Jones have a lot more in common than you may think: They share a first name, they share the same initials, both are very good at golf and win a lot of Utah golf events and they both came away with wins at The Oaks Open on May 3-4 in Spanish Fork, Utah.
Johnson, who’s coming off a very successful 2018 season (another commonality between the two) as 2018 Utah Section PGA Omega Player of the Year, winner of the Section Championship and participant in the 2018 PGA Championship, fired off rounds of (-7) 69-68 to win The Oaks Open by one stroke over Jones and Utah Section President Dustin Volk.
“I’d say mentally I was in a good spot those two days,” Johnson said. “My swing wasn’t feeling great either day but I was able to make smart decisions and miss in some spots that allowed me to avoid making bogeys.
“The greens at The Oaks where in great shape; firm and fast. They were fun to putt on. I had just switched putters the week prior to a TaylorMade Spider X and just felt very comfortable with it.”
The week prior for Johnson was quite an experience as he found himself playing in a six-man playoff in the PGA Professional Championship for two qualifying spots in this year’s PGA Championship. He survived the first playoff hole but came up short on the second.
“Getting a win after missing a chance playing at Bethpage was nice,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, it still stings every time I think about that playoff, but I can’t change the outcome so I have to move on. It was very nice to come home and get back to competing and continuing to play well.”
As for Jones, who notched his sixth win of the 2019 season as the low-am in The Oaks Open, it wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if he won the overall. With a pair of 69s, Jones fell one-stroke short of making that happen.
“It was fun to take low am at The Oaks Open,” Jones explained. “It was fun to compete against some of the pros; I really wanted to try and win against them.
“I figured I needed to get to 68 to win,” Jones continued. “I hit good shots on the last three holes, but barely missed two putts in-a-row. One putt was inside 10 feet. I birded the last hole to shoot (-3) 69, again.”
Jones’ 2019 season has been a spectacle. He currently waits to hear back on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints mission assignment, but is looking forward to competing in the Utah State Amateur and is hoping to play in the U.S. Junior Amateur and the Pacific Coast Amateur, depending on his mission call.