All posts by : Randy Dodson

The PGA of America released the statement below today regarding the USGA and R&A’s decision to revise golf ball testing conditions:

We appreciate that the USGA and R&A ran a collaborative and patient process over the past several years. We are particularly gratified that they heard our concerns regarding the significant operational challenges bifurcation would have presented and are no longer considering a local rule regarding the ball for elite players. We are also pleased that the proposed change to the ball has been delayed until 2028 for elite players and 2030 for recreational golfers. Given the important role our nearly 30,000 PGA of America Golf Professionals play in the recreational game, having more time to adjust to the new rule is helpful.

We remain opposed to any change that may potentially lessen the enjoyment of the game for recreational golfers or diminish the unprecedented momentum the game is enjoying.  It appears recreational golfers will see a greater reduction in distance than we would advise. While this decrease has been lessened, we continue to recommend being more moderate on the swing speed change for the golf ball conformance test.

At this time, we continue to have concerns and look forward to continuing this important conversation and finding resolution with all of our golf industry partners.

We value our relationship with the USGA and R&A and respect their role as administrators of the Rules of Golf and the equipment standards of the game. We will continue to share our feedback on this, and any topic that affects our PGA of America Golf Professionals and the countless number of golfers they coach and welcome into the game each year.

Click here for the USGA/R&A press release on Revised Golf Ball Testing Conditions to Take Effect in 2028.

Every year the Utah Section PGA is proud to recognize individuals who go above and beyond in our golf community. We are fortunate to have so many people who dedicate their time and talents to the growth of the game. We congratulate all of them on a job well done.

On behalf of the Utah Section PGA officers and awards committee, we present the 2023 Utah Section PGA Award winners:

Professional of the Year – Jeff John, Logan River

Teacher of the Year – Jake Blair, Victory Golf Works

Youth Player Development Leader – Tele Wightman, Thanksgiving Point

Assistant Golf Professional of the Year – Dustin Pimm, Mountain View 

PGA Professional Development Award – Jared Barnes, Cedar Ridge

Merchandiser of the Year-Private Facility – Chris Moody, Riverside Country Club

Merchandiser of the Year-Public Facility – Jordan Van Orman, Palisade

Player Development Award – Bruce Summerhays, Glenmoor

Jeff Beaudry Golf Ambassador Award – Aaron Goodman, Utah Section Office

Bill Strausbaugh Award – Chris Johnson, Sun Hills

Wesley Ruff Golf Citizen Award – Garrit Johnson, Fairways Media

Jon Unger Sales Person of the Year – Phil Deimling, FootJoy

Doug Vilven Distinguished Service Award – Dan Roskelley, Retired

Superintendent of the Year- Private Facility – Eric Gifford, The Country Club

Superintendent of the Year- Public Facility – Jason Moon, Hubbard

Governor’s Golf Industry Service Award – Jackie Price, Wendover Casinos

They saved their golf course, and now they’re headed to the inaugural 17u National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Championship. For a group of 14-to-16-year-olds, they’ve already accomplished a lot, and the future is bright. Today’s opening day live scoring link, Click Here.

Led by PGA of America Golf Professional Darci Olsen, the 17u All-Star team out of Glenmoor Golf Club in South Jordan, Utah, has been many years in the making.

“We have worked for a long time on this,” said Olsen, the PGA of America Head Golf Professional at Glenmoor. “I have been on board with PGA Jr. League since the beginning. I love that these kids have been with me since 2017, and now we’re headed to a National Championship.”

In fact, 2017 was a landmark year for Glenmoor Golf Club. Olsen had only accepted her role a year prior amidst a dispute between the owners, and devastating news of an impending sale and conversion to a residential development began to spread.

Her PGA Jr. League players weren’t going to stand by and let that happen.

Olsen invited the Mayor and City Council members to attend a PGA Jr. League game, where she says, “their eyes were opened on how important and impactful our golf facility was and is to our youth, families and community.”

Thanks to the city’s youngest influencers and the overwhelming public support they helped garner, the course was saved––and it continues to thrive under Olsen’s leadership. Her in-house PGA Jr. League program has grown to over 200 players, from true beginners to seasoned competitors, and it averages roughly 20 teams per season. 

“We have some great coaches, players and parents that are a part of our Glenmoor family,” she said. “With the demand, we have added a nine-month PGA Jr. League travel team that starts in January. This year was the first, and it was a success!”

“PGA Jr. League played a much larger role in keeping Glenmoor a golf course than anyone truly realizes,” Olsen continued. “I attribute saving the course to our PGA Jr. League program. It is such a big part of my life and our community. It’s so awesome to now fast forward to 2023 and be taking these same kids to a National Championship. They deserve it!”

Team Utah consists of six competitive veterans: 

• Parker Goodman, 16, a member of his high school’s varsity team who can be found competing in the Glenmoor Men’s League with his dad, PGA of America Golf Professional Aaron Goodman.
• Ian Miyasaki, 15, the 2023 Glenmoor Men’s Club Champion and Junior Club Champion.
• Jaxon Erickson, 16, who won the 2022 Utah Junior PGA Championship and represented Utah in the 2023 Eddie Hogan Cup.
• Elliot Bond, 16, ranked 450th nationally on the Junior Golf Scoreboard and 100th in the 2025 class, who has made the 6A All-State and All-Region Teams all three years of high school.
• Jared McCleary, 16, who notched a career low of 62, finished fifth in 5A State, second in the Region and made the 5A All-State First Team.
• Krew Saunders, 14, who made the varsity golf team as a freshman, won several U.S. Kids Golf events this season and won the B Flight in the Glenmoor Amatuer.

The bond Olsen has formed with her team and their families is a testament to the community she’s worked so hard to build through PGA Jr. League. It can be summed up perfectly by an anecdote at the National Car Rental PGA Jr. League Regional Championship in September, where the team’s win clinched their spot in the 17u Championship.

“One of the parents came up to me and said that his son, Elliot Bond, and teammate, Jaxon Erickson, wanted to win so badly for me, their coach,” Olsen said. “They know how much I love this program and have wanted this. It means so much to me for these kids to want to work hard for me. One of the greatest highlights of my career.”

Written by By Hayley Wilson, Published on PGA.com, Wednesday, November 15, 2023

 A spot in the 2024 PGA Professional Championship at PGA Frisco is on the line as the 47th National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship tees off tomorrow at PGA Golf Club Wanamaker Courtse in Port St. Lucie, Florida. 

The 132-player field includes Utah PGA Members Tyler Dalton (Southgate GC), Aaron Purviance (Red Ledges GC) and Evan Wartgow (Park Meadows CC). They qualified for the national championship with their finish in this year’s Utah Assistant PGA Assistant Championship at Hobble Creek Golf Course. 

The four-day 72-hole stroke play championship will be cut to the low 70 players and ties after 36-holes. The top four finishers and ties will earn exemptions into the 2024 National Car Rental Assistant PGA Professional Championship. Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/ye298w8n

As the month of November kicks off, and Veterans Day looms large on Nov. 11, it seems fitting to recognize what’s become one of the most special weeks of the year on the PGA of America calendar: PGA HOPE National Golf & Wellness Week.

This year’s edition took place Oct. 12-16 in the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C., at Congressional Country Club in nearby Bethesda. Twenty military Veterans around the country, graduates of their local PGA HOPE programs, participated in an immersive five-day event including advanced golf coaching from PGA of America Golf Professionals and wellness training that culminated in a golf outing at the legendary venue.

Jayme Turner’s U.S. Army experience on the front lines taught him the value of preparation. Those pre-combat checks and inspections can apply to getting ready for a round of golf.

Yet in his role as a Utah’s PGA HOPE Ambassador, representing the Utah Section PGA, Turner believes that what happens afterward is now his biggest job.

After veterans complete the eight-session golf experience, Turner said, “It’s my responsibility to work the network and keep the guys together. We’ve got to maintain some kind of connection.”

Turner participated in the PGA HOPE National Golf & Wellness Week, his biggest takeaway was playing a course “like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” he said. “The fairways were like greens.”

Commissioned as a PGA HOPE Ambassador, he promised to fulfill the duties of “a champion for PGA HOPE” in Utah. Turner is a graduate of Utah PGA Member Rob Kreiger’s PGA Hope sessions at Southgate Golf Club in St. George. 

“He is all in on golf and PGA HOPE and is completely hooked on the game,” Krieger said. “We could not have nominated anyone any better that is so excited to be in and around golf. … PGA HOPE has been transformational for Jayme and I could not be happier for his active participation and how he will be helping us grow our programs.” 

This Veterans Day, GIVE WITH PURPOSE! Join us in celebrating our nation’s heroes who protect our freedom, while raising awareness and support for Utah PGA HOPE programs. Raising funds for PGA HOPE will allow us to create additional PGA HOPE sessions for veterans, like Jayme Turner, across the state. 

Thank you for joining our effort, CLICK HERE

Story written by Ryan Adams, PGA of America and Kurt Kragthorpe, Fairways Media senior writer. Photos by PGA of America and Fairways Media.

Utah PGA Members Jeff Brehaut and Steve Schneiter have qualified for the 2024 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship after earning top 10 finishes over the weekend at the Senior PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida. 

Brehaut and Schneiter are two of the 35 PGA of America Golf Professionals who have punched their ticket to senior golf’s oldest major. The 35 Professionals make up the 2024 Corebridge Financial PGA Team that will compete at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan next May.

Park City resident Brehaut, a Utah PGA Life Member, finished tied for fourth place with a 5-under 282 total on rounds of 73-71-68-70. 

Schneiter Pebblebrook’s Steve Schneiter, a former Senior PGA Professional Championship winner and last year’s runner-up, shot (-1) 67-73-75-71 – 286 to finish tied for 9th place Sunday.

Missing the 54-hole cut by 1-stroke was Davis County Director of Golf Dustin Volk. Other Utah PGA Senior Professionals to compete this year were Senior Match Play and Section Champion Mark Owen (Mountain View), Scott Brandt (Bloomington), Todd Tanner (InMotion Junior Golf), Joe Summerhays (Oakridge) and Dave DeSantis (Golf Galaxy).

PGA Director of Instruction at Kinsale Golf and Fitness Club (Powell, Ohio) Bob Sowards won the championship with a six-stroke lead with a final round 6-under 66 on the Wanamaker Course Oct. 29th to finish at 15-under, 272. The win is the second Senior PGA Professional Championship title for Sowards who previously claimed the Leo Fraser Trophy in 2018. He is just the seventh player to win the title twice. 

For the final leaderboard, Click Here.

Photos courtesy of the PGA of America. 

Utah PGA Section members will tee off Oct. 26 at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Florida in the 2023 Senior PGA Professional Championship presented by Cadillac and supported by Golf Channel. 

The field of 264 PGA senior professionals includes Utah PGA members Scott Brandt, Jeff Brehaut, Dave DeSantis, Mark Owen, Steve Schneiter, Joe Summerhays, Todd Tanner and Dustin Volk. 

Schneiter is a past champion of the event, winning in 2016 and was last year’s runner-up. Owen (cover photo) is this year’s Utah PGA Senior Match Play champion and Senior Section champion.

Utah PGA Executive Director Devin Dehlin said, “We want to wish the Utah PGA members the best of luck this week at the Senior PGA Professional Championship. We have a solid group representing Utah in this national championship and have no doubt we will be well represented.”

In the 72-hole championship players compete for the Leo Fraser Trophy, named after the 16th president of the PGA of America and for a share of the $335,000 total purse including the winner’s share of $27,000. 

Additionally, the top 35 finishers will be named to the Corebridge Financial PGA Team and advance into the field for the 2024 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship May 23-26 at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor, Michigan. 

The top five finishers also gain an exemption into the final stage of the 2024 PGA TOUR Champions Qualifying School. The top eight finishers, including ties, will automatically qualify for the 2024 Senior PGA Professional Championship at Sunriver Resort in Sunriver, Oregon, Sept. 26-29.

Each player will compete on PGA Golf Club’s Wanamaker and Ryder courses on Thursday and Friday before a cut to the low 90 scorers and ties. Following Saturday’s round, a second cut will be made to the low 70 scorers and ties. The third and final rounds will be contested solely on the Wanamaker course. 

The Senior PGA Professional Championship began in 2006 to provide additional playing opportunities for PGA of America Golf Professionals who are 50 and older. It has become a showcase event featuring some of the finest players in the Association.

For Round 1 & 2 starting times and more information about the 2023 Senior PGA Professional Championship, visit here.

For two days in mid-October, the Utah Section PGA Women’s Match Play was staged in likely the most pleasant conditions of any golf tournament in the state this season, as crisp mornings turned into ideal autumn afternoons.

Haley Sturgeon was not interested in lingering in that setting, though. She exited Alpine Country Club as early as possible each day, producing an even more dominant performance than last year. Sturgeon, due to deliver a child in December, needed only 42 total holes to win her three matches as the defending champion and No.1 seed: 6 and 4 over Aspyn Jones (Alpine Country Club), 4 and 3 over Darci Dehlin-Olsen (Glenmoor Golf Club) and 6 and 5 over Emily Jones, her colleague at The Country Club in Salt Lake City.

Sturgeon went 44 holes in match play in 2022, when she earned her first title in three years. She now has won the Match Play title three times in six years.

The eight contestants played a nine-hole seeding round in advance of the quarterfinals, with Sturgeon opting out of the round as the defending champion. Jones shot even-par to earn the No. 2 seed. Utah newcomer Melissa Hatten, an LPGA national award winner this year as the head professional of Talisker at Tuhaye Golf Club, defeated Sue Nyhus to become the other semifinalist. 

Sturgeon’s play during the semifinal and championship matches produced only one bogey for the day accomplishing her game plan of “hitting fairways and greens” and not “pressing anything.”

Of the championship match Sturgeon said, “We said no matter what’s happening we were going to stick to our game plan and just let her (Jones) do her thing and I was going to do my thing. It just ended up working out.”  Sturgeon’s father Mark, a major influence in her competitive nature, was on the bag once again. 

For Jones, who made five birdies in her semifinal win over Hatten, the lunch break prior to the championship match may have proved too much of a cooling off period. 

“I just saw the target,” she said of her semifinal match. “I was hitting everything I wanted. I think this afternoon (championship match), it’s just a different type of pressure. I just have to learn how to play under that pressure.”

It was going to take birdies to beat Sturgeon and pressing a little led to Jones getting behind quickly, going three down in the first four holes. 

“I’m grateful I could be in the finals and it was such a fun week,” Jones said. 

Jones had BYU women’s golf coach Carrie Roberts as her caddie for the tournament and became emotional when asked about her influence. 

“I know she’s got a lot on her plate. And the fact that she would take two days to come caddy for me means so much. It was so fun to have her here with me. She just knows how to talk to me. What to say, and when to push me. It means the world. So grateful for her friendship and the ongoing relationship we have together. I’m so grateful for it. We talk all the time, she’s my go to, so it’s awesome.”

Jones played for BYU in 2009-2011 and was Roberts assistant from 2015 to 2017.

The win wrapped up Sturgeon’s 5th consecutive Utah PGA Rolex Player of the Year award. Jones is right behind her in player points heading into the championship and both players knew what was on the line. 

Jones said, “I’m glad that I tried to play more tournaments this year than I have in the past. That tournament experience is so fun, and that’s what I need to do to be a better player. A lot of it for me is juggling mom life, competition life and teaching life. I’ve loved competing so much that I’ll keep fighting through it. But yeah, it’s just trying to find that balance so overall it was great experience.”

For Sturgeon, her game plan for next season will be to continue with Utah PGA competition. She will play the Pro-Assistant ahead of her delivery date and then will take the winter off with a new-born before looking ahead to next year’s Winter Classic. 

“It’s easy to say now, you know, things could change, but I’ve talked with my dad and my mom and my in-laws and they’re so supportive and my dad is just, you know, so supportive. I still want to be involved in golf and just not get caught up in being a mom and you know, involve him (the baby) and show him, maybe that it’s okay to keep working and have a good work ethic in all things. So I’ll take, you know about six weeks off is what they recommend. That’ll put me about middle of January, and then I’ll have about a month to get ready for the Winter Classic down in St. George. That’s the game plan.”

Many thanks to championship host Alpine Country Club and the support from PGA Professional Brock Padilla and General Manager Neal Maurer.

2023 Women’s Match Play Championship recap written by Fairways Media Publisher Randy Dodson with contributions from Fairways Senior Writer, Kurt Kragthorpe. Photos by Fairways Media. Editor’s note: The Utah PGA Rolex Men’s and Senior Player of the Year awards have not been finalized as of this story.

A four-stroke penalty couldn’t keep Crimson Cliffs’ Boston Bracken down as he won his second individual 4A title and led the Mustangs to a back-to-back 4A state championship.

The day started in a tight race between Crimson Cliffs and Orem, with the Mustangs narrowly leading Orem by three strokes after day one of the tournament.

Unfortunately, the weather did not improve from Day 1, and the tournament continued amid the cold, rain, and wind. Despite the harsh weather, Crimson Cliffs found some separation and took a 13-stroke lead over Orem.

However, as Bracken finished in the last group, he realized he had an extra club in his bag, causing a four-stroke penalty. Bracken still finished the day with a five-stroke lead over second place and earned his second individual state title in a row.

“Honestly, I thought it was a two-shot penalty for every hole,” said Bracken. “I had 15 clubs in the bag, cleaning up this morning in the hotel I put my 5 wood in the bag and did not take it out this morning. When we got to the 17th tee I realized ‘Shoot, I got 15 clubs in my bag.’”

“I was a little distraught, I thought it was a 32-shot penalty, luckily it was only four. I buried the last two holes, which I’m not sure how because mentally, I wasn’t there. But it was a good finish and I’m proud of the team.”

In the end, Crimson Cliffs ended the day with a 579, which was more than enough to take it over Orem who ended with a 595.

Read more from Deseret News Sportswriter, Carson Hilton

The conditions were far from ideal at the 3A golf state tournament this week, with rain and wind for long stretches both days making for miserable playing conditions.

It’s not what anybody wanted, but nobody navigated the conditions at MeadowBrook Golf Course better than the Morgan Trojans, and they have another state championship trophy to show for it.

Morgan held a narrow four-stroke lead after Wednesday’s opening round, but weren’t fazed by Thursday’s rain and extended the lead to 15 strokes by the end of the tournament to capture their fifth 3A state title in the past six years. The Trojans finished with a 591 team score, with Union in second with a 606 and defending state champion Richfield in third with a 608.

“It was tough out there. The weather was rough. It was windy, rainy, but shout out to the superintendent for making the greens really good. You just kind of have to be patient, take your time, keep all your stuff dry and really just focus on your shot,” said 3A medalist Lance Loughton of Morgan.

Read more here from Deseret News Sportswriter, James Edward.