Palisade Golf Course Head Professional Jordan Van Orman had many other things planned for the 2020 Sanpete County Open May 16th, winning the event was not one of them.
“I think everyone knows how much goes into running a big event, add in the COVID-19 precautions we had to implement and it made for quite a busy week leading up to the tournament,” Van Orman said. “I was drained, the thoughts at the forefront of my mind were not playing golf.”
Van Orman shot a (-9) 63 to win the tournament at Palisade, one-stroke better than Riverside Country Club Head Professional Chris Moody and two-strokes ahead of Promontory Director of Golf Ryan Kartchner.
It was the putter that Van Orman attributes to the win, “I putted really well, I probably made around 100 feet worth of putts.”
But it was 96-yard wedge on the 16th hole that really showed how dialed his game was. “I had hit down into the adjacent fairway and had about 96 yards to the pin. With the ball below my feet, I grabbed my 60-degree wedge and ended up knocking it into the hole. It looked good coming of the club, but I never would have guessed that it would find the bottom of the cup.”
Expectations going into the event were more focused on running a good tournament, however, Van Orman has his sights on playing more events this season.
“You know I kind of had a mix of expectations,” he said. “In 2019 I played the least amount of golf since I turned professional. My wife and I had our first child in March 2019 and all of my time, thoughts and focus were on spending time with her and my family. I made the commitment early this year to play more golf now that she is a little older, so my expectations were higher but I never would have foreseen the results that came on Saturday.”
Up next for Van Orman is the Utah Section PGA Spring Pro-Pro and Four-Ball Championship with Sunset View Head Professional Casey Fowles and then the Millard County Open in June.
Steve Schneiter of Schneiter’s Pebblebrook won the Senior Professional division with four birdies and only one blemish on the card to finish (-3) 69.
There was a three-way tie for second place in the Senior Professional divsion between Mountain View’s Mark Owen, Bloomington Country Club’s Scott Brandt and BYU Men’s Coach Bruce Brockbank at (-1) 71.