Monthly Archives: December 2021

For the first time in his career Sunset View Head Professional Casey Fowles earned the Rolex Utah Section Player of the Year, playing in 15 events, winning three times and earning a total of 6,360 points – 1,000 clear of second place finisher and two-time winner Zach Johnson.

“I think last year I was second and I’ve kind of been in the top-five,” Fowles said, “but it’s always something you look at near the end of the year and aspire towards. One thing that’s always kind of hurt me is getting off to a slow start in the spring, but being able to win the Winter Classic really helped me get a jump start on things and that was the difference this year.”

Fowles shot a final-round 62 at Sand Hollow in February to win the RMT/EZGO Winter Classic for his first victory of the season. He would go on to win The Oaks Open and the Mountainland Valley View Open as well.

“For me, it’s been a couple of years process. That’s the hard thing about golf, sometimes the changes and things you do take months-to-years before you see the results. I’ve worked hard on my body and my game for a few years. It’s fun to see the results from that.

“I had some really good rounds and I had that 62 at Sand Hollow, but honestly for me it was in our Section Championship where I was kind of struggling getting the ball in the hole. Going into the last hole, knowing I needed to par to get in a playoff or make a birdie to get in the National Club Pro and to make the birdie, that was the topper for the year – to dig down deep and do it when I needed to, that was the most memorable.”

Fowles strong 2021 season will reap it’s benefits in April of 2022 at the PGA Professional Championship at Omni Barton Creek as he will join the other seven Utah Section Pros who qualified through the Section Championship.

“Once you’ve been to it you want to go back every year because it’s such a fun event. To be able to do that and make birdie when I needed to was probably my most memorable and best part of the year for me.”

Click HERE for the 2021 Rolex Utah Section Player of the Year Points.

Another year has come and gone, which means the 2021 Rolex Utah PGA Players of the Year have been decided. In an ever-competitive Section, this honor doesn’t come easy. Congratulations to:

Rolex Player of the Year: Casey Fowles, Sunset View GC

Rolex Senior Player of the Year: Mark Owen, Mountain View GC

Rolex Women’s Player of the Year: Haley Sturgeon, The Country Club

Rolex Assistant Player of the Year: Aaron Purviance, Red Ledges

This marks three consecutive years that Sturgeon claimed the Women’s Player of the Year Title, as for Fowles, Owen and Purviance, each are awarded the honor for the first time.

Fowles finished runner-up to Joe Summerhays in 2020, but with three victories and never finishing outside the top-10 in any of his 15 events played, he was hard to catch as he claimed first by over 1,000 points.

Owen also claimed three wins this season, highlighted by the Kean Ridd Utah Senior Open and the Senior Section Championship.

Sturgeon won the RMT/EZGO Winter Classic and finished runner-up in the Homestead Open, Siegfried & Jensen Utah Women’s Open and the Women’s Match Play Championship.

Purviance highest finish of the season was runner-up in the Utah Assistant PGA Championship but appearances in national events was the decider – qualifying for the PGA Professional Championship in April and then making the cut in the Assistant PGA Professional Championship in November provided just enough to win the 2021 honor.

2021 Rolex Player of the Year Points List.

The Utah PGA is joining forces with KSL’s Quarters for Christmas to have an influence on the lives of kids in our community. The UTAH PGA Family is an amazing group of individuals, we ask you to join our Utah PGA Cares campaign as we come together to make a difference. The Utah Section PGA will match your donations up to $5,000.

Quarters for Christmas provides coats and shoes for children in need, and 100% of the money we receive goes back to our community. The funds raised are distributed to Utah’s education foundations, Crossroads Urban Center, Catholic Community Services, and The Road Home.

With COVID, we know that the need is greater now than in the past. Our goal is to raise more money than ever.

• 100% of the donations go back to our community to help provide shoes and coats for children in need
• The funds are distributed to Utah’s education foundations to help kids around the entire state, Crossroads Urban Center, Catholic Community Services, and The Road Home
• The bulk of the money goes into the schools giving teachers the ability to help their students

Click here to make a difference and donate

December is here and so is the year’s final issue of Utah PGA Monthly digital magazine – a publication dedicated to recognizing and better communicating with Utah PGA Professionals.

In this issue we welcome seven new PGA Class A Members in the Utah Section:

Shawn Tharpe, Hidden Valley CC
Scott Bentley, The Ridge
Skylar Lambourne, Hidden Valley CC
Sue Nyhus, First Tee Utah
Zach Bowcut, Bonneville GC
Drake Neumann, Entrada CC
Gavin Eckert, Old Mill GC

Also included in this issue is Eaglewood Golf Course General Manager Tyler Abegglen who has recently become a PGA Certified Professional in all four available areas of the PGA’s Certified Professional Program.

Click Here to read the December issue.

And Click Here to read all past issues of Utah PGA Monthly.