Monthly Archives: October 2019

The Utah Section PGA is excited to announce the 2019 Award Winners. We had so many incredible nominees this year. It is great to know that we have so many PGA Professionals going above and beyond at their facilities and their efforts within Utah golf.

A special thank you to the committee for the time you put into the detailed process of selecting this year’s class. And thanks to all of you for your efforts in growing the game in Utah.

Congratulations to all of our deserving winners! We will be honoring them at the Annual Awards Banquet on February 11, 2020 at Bloomington Country Club in St. George, UT.

Professional of the Year: Craig Norman, Hobble Creek 

Teacher of the Year: Tommy Sharp, Golf Lab

Youth Player Development: Jake Wyatt, Gladstan 

Assistant of the Year: Jon DeBoer, Tuhaye

Jon Unger Award: Brian Howes, Callaway 

Merchandiser of the Year Private: Marty Bauer, Glenwild

Merchandiser of the Year Public: Lynn Landgren, Bonneville

Player Development Award: Bryant Boshard, The Ridge  

Superintendent of the Year Public: Tracy Howard, Carbon Country Club

Superintendent of the Year Private: Paul Stokes, Logan Country Club

Horton Smith: Chad Pettingill, Jeremy Ranch

Bill Howard: Dale Darling

Bill Strausbaugh: Darci Olsen, Glenmoor

Gentleman Jeff: Scott Whittaker

The quality of high school golfers has improved so much over the past few years, the difference between making an All-State team or not comes down to one stroke or even less throughout the season. The Utah Section PGA extends the honor of First Team All-State to the top 10 golfers in each classification, the next 10 are selected to the Second Team, and the next 10 after that are selected to Honorable Mention.

The Utah Section of the PGA of America has been actively supporting high school golf for over 25 years. Twenty years ago they developed the Utah High School All-State Golf Program. The All-State Golf selection process is unique among all-state honors programs in that it is all by the numbers. Thirty-five percent of a players best region scores and sixty-five percent of their state championship scores are used to rank each player. No arbitrary or influenced decisions, it’s all by the numbers. The players skills and scores earn the recognition.

All First Team All-State players will be invited to the All-State Banquet at the end of May 2020. This is just one of many community-based programs that the PGA operates each year to benefit our Utah golf community. Congratulations to all of these players on a fantastic year in golf.

Team selections below, or CLICK HERE.

Glenmoor Head Golf Professional Darci Dehlin-Olsen was elected to the Utah Section PGA Board on October 11^th and is the first-ever female to be elected to the board in Utah Section history.

“I’m honored to do it,” Dehlin-Olsen said. “I think it’s awesome and I think I will be able to be an asset to the section and continue to help grow for more opportunities for women to see that there is an avenue for them in the PGA.”

Dehlin-Olsen has been a member of the PGA for eight years and is currently the head golf professional at Glenmoor Golf Course in South Jordan, Utah. At one point the course was in danger of being shut down and the land sold for development purposes, but Dehlin-Olsen lead a “Save Glenmoor” campaign that garnered the communities’ support to help preserve the course.

In addition to being elected to the Utah Section Board, she has been asked to serve a two-year term on a national women’s leadership committee within The PGA of America.

“I’m very excited about that because I can take some of that and bring it back to our section and try to help not only in Utah, but everywhere to help grow women’s golf and help more women join the PGA.”

One of Dehlin-Olsen’s goals in helping serve the Utah Section is to strengthen the playing opportunities for women members of the PGA in Utah.

“I’m already so thrilled that we have playing opportunities in the section, I’ve missed it,” she said. “It’s fun to go play with the guys and stuff but I can’t fully compete there and there isn’t the camaraderie I feel when playing with the other women in our section. I for sure want to keep growing it and getting more women to join and play.

“Hopefully as female PGA members in Utah we can keep growing high school girls golf and girls golf in the state in general. I just want to be a good example and show that there is a place for you in the golf world and the PGA.”

The Utah Section PGA seeks to be a strong and prominent organization within the golf community by providing quality programs and services to both PGA members and others. With Dehlin-Olsen being a new addition to the board, that goal will only become more of a reality.

“We are excited to have Darci join the board,” Utah Section PGA Executive Director Devin Dehlin said. “We look forward to having a woman’s perspective as we continually look for ways to better serve our membership and grow the game of golf in Utah.

“We want to be more inclusive to all women in our section and having Darci share her ideas on increasing the participation of our women will be a great asset as we grow their involvement.”

In the 2019 Utah Section PGA Women’s Match Play Championship, it was The Country Club Assistant Professional Haley Sturgeon who got off to a hot start and never looked back as she went a total of 10-under par in her semi and final round matches to become the Utah Section PGA Women’s Match Play champion on October 16^th at Riverside Country Club in Provo.

“It feels great,” Sturgeon said about the win. “My golf game has come around and it was fun competing with the ladies. It was a great match and it was fun being out here.”

Sturgeon faced Promontory Assistant Professional Sadie Palmer in the morning semifinal match where she quickly got to a 5-up lead through six holes with four birdies.

Palmer cut the lead down, being 3-down through 12 holes, but Sturgeon’s steady play proved to be too much as she would go on to win the semifinal match with a 4 & 3 win.

Defending champion Emily Jones, 12-weeks from of having her first baby, faced Glenmoor Head Golf Professional Darci Dehlin-Olsen in the semifinals.

The match felt tight the entire round with the biggest lead going to Jones when she was 3-up through 11 holes. But it was Dehlin-Olsen who steadily chipped away at the lead with birdies on the 15^th and 16^th holes, causing the match to be tied with two holes left.

Dehlin-Olsen won the 17^th hole with a par but then struggled on her approach into the 18^th hole, with Jones forcing extra holes and winning the semifinal match on the first extra hole.

With enough excitement in the semifinals to end the season, Sturgeon wasn’t about to let her hot start come to an end.

Going head-to-head against the defending Women’s Match Play champion, Sturgeon made a steady climb to a 7-up lead through 9 holes with three birdies and a conceded eagle on the par-five 5^th hole.

With a birdie on 10 and a sand save for par on the 11^th, making 10-foot putts look like gimmies, Sturgeon won the 2019 Utah Section PGA Women’s Match Play Championship with a 9 & 7 victory.

“I was just focusing on having a good start and focusing hole-by-hole; on to the next hole, boring golf, like we all dream to play every round,” Sturgeon said.

“The opportunity to play here, in October, it’s awesome,” she continued. “And the women’s program that it’s building, it’s great competition. It’s a tight-knit group and it’s fun to be out here playing with the ladies.”

Sturgeon is a Utah junior golf product, she especially gives credit to the girl’s high school golf program where she played for Layton High School and then would go on to play a year of college golf at Utah Valley University and then would transfer to Dixie State and compete until she graduated in 2016.

As for her plans moving forward:

“Right now I’m the assistant golf pro at The Country Club and they are letting me go down to the Cactus Tour in January to play three months down there, then I’ll probably play in the US Open qualifier and then Q school again next year.”

With the way Sturgeon competed in this year’s Women’s Match Play Championship, it would be no surprise to see her find success in her upcoming schedule.

For semifinal and final round photos CLICK HERE.

By Michael R. Abramowitz, PGA of America

Think part Pied Piper. Part Eddie Murphy. Part Nick Faldo, minus the accent and, of course, the game.

ESPN reporter Michael Collins brought his entertaining traveling road show to the 2019 PGA Jr. League Championship at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, for an extended weekend.

Collins—who once did a popular piece online with phenom Akshay Bhatia from the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, where Bhatia (then a U.S. Junior Ryder Cup Team Member) taught Collins how to do the “Orange Justice” dance from Fortnite—is as genuine as it gets.

With a jovial personality, distinctive gray beard and hearty laugh, you can’t help but fall for Collins’ shtick. And now he has a 11-year old sidekick in Utah PGA Jr. Leaguer Warren Fisher, who is co-hosting hilarious bits with Collins to air on November 3rd on ESPN2. Stay tuned.

Vaudeville would be proud.

“It was an absolute blast,” said Collins. “Yesterday was the first day I met him. I was impressed the first time I shook hands. Demeanor, knowledge, 11 years old, just a ball of energy.”

Whether it’s putting drills with Team North Carolina that fall into Collins’ uncanny impromptu bravado or it’s joining in the Championship’s Skills Challenge or serving as a serious on-course reporter, Collins has as many options as a Swiss Army knife.

Meanwhile, Fisher, a now two-time PGA Jr. League Championship Cub Reporter, serves as the ultimate complement, with an equally cutting-edge sense of humor and over-the-top personality.

Harry Caray and Steve Stone. Jim Nantz and Tony Romo. Michael Collins and Warren Fisher? It’s not too much of a reach, now, is it?

“Halfway through our day, I told Warren, ‘There’s a good chance me and you will do some stuff in the future.’ He’s a lot of fun…He definitely knows what he wants to do. Knowing and being good at it is hard to do, but he definitely has both.

“He knows what he loves to do. He’s good at it. He’s coachable—easy to work with and great at directional stuff. There’s adults not as good, professionally. He’s one of those guys. Any time they want to ask me if I want to work with Warren, just tell me where I need to be and what time.”

Fisher has his eyes set on the stars and the best-dressed list.

“I want to work in television and do some acting, definitely,” proclaims the suave Fisher, who dresses in a Sunday-best, bow-tied suit, and last year, declared that he also wanted to be President of the United States. “Not any more. TV is where it’s at. For sure.”

“I knew just the way he was dressed this is going to be fun,” explained Collins. “I’m jealous of his look. And how he can slurp down all those milkshakes, too.”

Hollywood, here they come. Get their agent on the phone. Tell them the PGA Jr. League Championship is calling.

The 8th PGA Jr. League Championship presented by National Car Rental is being held at Grayhawk Golf Club, Oct. 12-14. Twelve all-star teams from across America are competing for the national title. ESPN2 will televise a highlight show on Sun., Nov. 3, at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT. ESPN is the new broadcast network of the PGA Jr. League Championship presented by National Car Rental.

For the original story and more info on the PGA Jr. League Championship, click HERE.

After numerous ballots Glenmoor Head Golf Professional Darci Dehlin-Olsen was elected to the Utah Section PGA Board and will fill the director position that Chad Pettingill has held the past three years. We are excited to have Darci join the Board and look forward to having a woman’s perspective as we continually look for ways to better serve our membership and grow the game of golf in Utah.

We would like to thank Todd Tanner, Chip Wesley and Michael Garrison for their willingness to serve the membership and making the selection process very difficult for our members. Four very qualified candidates looking to get involved and make a difference.  We will definitely be asking each of them to serve on various committees and will look forward to them running for future Board positions as they become available.

Thanks to all those that voted and participated in this process and we hope everyone finishes off the season strong. We look forward to 2020 and many exciting things ahead!