The February issue of Utah PGA Monthly digital magazine is here! In efforts to enhance communication with Utah Section PGA members, Utah PGA Monthly was created to celebrate and recognize PGA Professionals in Utah and all they do.
In this issue:
Why I Play with Lakeside Golf Course Assistant Professional Tim Kjar.
Industry Insider junior golf tips from InMotion Junior Golf Co-Owner Stacey Parkinson-Jones.
PGA Merchandise Show tips from Jeremy Ranch Golf & CC Head Professional Jake Hanley.
Membership Memories with The Barn Head Professional Kelly Woodland.
Cover photo: Mick Riley, right, and George Von Elm reunite in the 1950s to recall past glories. Photo courtesy of Marriott Library.
What is the only golf course in Utah named after an actual professional golfer? If you said Jeremy Ranch or Nibley Park, try again. That distinction belongs to Mick Riley Golf Course, named after the man known as the “Dean of Utah Golfers.” While the Murray course is always busy, most people have forgotten or don’t even know about Riley. Also, contrary to many high school golf team rumors, Mr. Riley is not buried by the clubhouse (he is buried in Mount Calvary Cemetery, although he probably wouldn’t have complained had he been buried at a golf course).
Born in 1897 in Burke, Idaho, Joseph Michael (Mick) Riley
found his way to Utah. There weren’t many options for linksters when Riley was
taking up the sport in the 1910s. At the time, Forest Dale had a hitching post
for golfer’s horses.
Riley learned golf by caddying at the Salt Lake Country
Club, being mentored by notable golfers such as George Von Elm, several years
his junior. Von Elm, who grew up in Utah and California, and with Riley as his
caddie, took on one of the preeminent golfers of the day, Bobby Jones (who
would later found the Masters Golf Tournament). Von Elm became the first golfer
from west of the Mississippi River to win a major tournament, and he not only
instilled in Riley a passion for golf but exposed him to some of the best golf
courses in America.
Like a duck to water, Riley’s experience, plus winning an
occasional tournament, helped to secure his position as the first head
professional at Nibley Park Golf Course. According to sportswriter Bill
Johnston, there were only 122 active golfers in Salt Lake City at the time. For
the uninitiated, a professional at a golf course is someone who makes their
living from teaching the game, running golf clubs and classes, and dealing in
golf equipment.
An adroit golf pro, Riley earned the praises of the Salt
Lake Telegram at the end of Nibley Park’s first season in 1922. “The work of
Professional Riley at the course is worthy of special commendation. It was
Riley’s job to develop interest and get the golfers out. He did.”
Not only did he get the golfers to come out, he developed a course championship, several tournaments, and high school matches. He developed greens and challenging hazards; he also developed aspiring golfers and advocated the sport to women. It was this latter undertaking that led Mick to meet his wife, Estella at one of his classes.
Mick Riley strongly advocated for women to pick up the game. Photo courtesy of Marriott Library.
Utah’s most enthusiastic golf cheerleader would do anything
to bring people to experience the game. Even winter was no match for Riley, who
opened one of the first indoor golf ranges in downtown Salt Lake in 1930. The
Telegram reported that by 1947, 80 percent of all Utah golfers were, at one
time, a pupil of Riley’s.
His green design skills were in high demand, as he helped
plan courses in Magna, Tooele, Richfield, Moab, Indian Springs, and American
Falls, Idaho, as well as Salt Lake’s Bonneville Golf Course. He also revamped the
Nibley Park and Forest Dale courses. However, his passion project was
Meadowbrook on 3900 South, which he designed and managed until his death. His
progressive thinking led to the establishment of a daycare center at
Meadowbrook, so that young mothers could take up the game.
After forming the Utah Golf Association, Riley was elected
as vice president of the National PGA and served for three years. He also
served on several national PGA committees. He was president of the Rocky
Mountain Section of the PGA and Golf Professional of the Year in 1955 for the
Rocky Mountain Section.
During the 1960s, he was asked to design the Little Valley Golf
Course off of Vine Street in Murray. However, his death in 1964 prevented him
from ever teeing off at the course. That honor was given to Estella, his wife,
and their children at the newly christened Mick Riley Golf Course in 1967.
Riley was also posthumously honored as a member of the Utah Golf Hall of Fame.
Perhaps the Salt Lake Telegram summed up Riley best, “The story of Mickey Riley is the story of golf in Utah, for without him many of the municipal courses that have made golf available to the ‘working man’ might not be.”
Story reposted with permission by Shaun Delliskave and the Murray Journal.
The PGA of America has launched a newly reimagined PGA.com
to connect consumers with PGA Professionals. The redesigned site, which is now
managed in-house by the PGA, focuses on the journey a golfer takes to begin or
improve his or her game, no matter their skill level.
PGA.com and its affiliated championship sites will also
continue to provide coverage of prominent events, such as the PGA Championship,
Ryder Cup, KPMG Women’s PGA Championship and KitchenAid Senior PGA
Championship. However, an important emphasis of PGA.com will be on the
opportunities enabled by enhancing the coach-consumer relationship.
“PGA.com is designed to bring to life the special
relationship between PGA Professionals and consumers through coaching and other
consumer-focused services, with a vision that ‘your best golf is ahead of
you,’” said PGA Interactive General Manager Rob Smith. “There are so many ways
in which a journey in golf can positively impact your life. Our job is to
identify the best ways to connect with PGA Professionals across all aspects of
the game, beginning with coaching.”
An important shift in the new PGA.com site will be speaking
through the voice of the PGA Professional. On the site, PGA Professionals will
be featured prominently and given the opportunity to provide exclusive content
to engage consumers, including first-person feature articles, videos and advice
to help golfers with various aspects of the game and the golf lifestyle.
In the second phase of the launch, scheduled for later this
year, consumers will be able to easily search for PGA Professionals who have
completed both their American Development Model for Golf (ADM) training
available on PGA.Coach and a detailed PGA.com coach profile. ADM utilizes
long-term athlete development and quality coaching concepts to promote
sustained physical activity, athlete safety and age-appropriate growth. PGA.com
is designed to help these coaches establish a relationship with new golfers and
then build upon that connection, to give consumers the resources they need to
achieve their goals.
“The PGA of America is committed to the future of coaching
through the American Development Model for Golf,” said PGA President Suzy
Whaley. “As we look to transition the industry from a transaction against a
lesson to the lifetime value in a coaching relationship, PGA.com is being
architected to facilitate the digital evolution of coaching.”
Richfield High School’s girls’ golf Coach Todd Mullen has been selected as the 2018-19 Utah Girls Golf Coach of the Year by the National Federation of High School Coaches Association, Jan. 3. Mullen was specifically nominated by the Utah High School’s Activities Association as the most deserving recipient for the honor.
This year’s honorees were selected based upon their coaching performance in the 2018-19 school year, lifetime community involvement, school involvement and philosophy of coaching. The NFHS relies on its member state associations to recognize those who are leading their sport, shaping their athletes and contributing to their community, according to Dr. Karissa L. Neihoff, executive director of the NFHS.
“It is our pleasure to recognize leaders and role models at the interscholastic level,” Neihoff said. “And, it is to the credit of athletic directors like Richard Barton that coaches like Todd are able to contribute in such a positive way to the youth of our country and communities.”
–
Todd Mullen is the head golf professional at Cove View Golf Course in Richfield, Utah, and won the 2018 Utah Section PGA Youth Player Development Leader Award for his continued efforts in sharing the game to the youth in the Richfield community.
In efforts to better recognize, celebrate and get to know the growing membership of the Utah Section PGA, Utah PGA Monthly digital magazine was created!
We are looking forward to highlighting individuals, recognizing accomplishments and going behind the scenes with our PGA Professionals and all they do to provide this game we love.
In partnership with Fairways Media, Each issue will be delivered to Utah PGA members directly in their email at the beginning of each month and will recap scheduling events and highlight 3-4 PGA Professionals.
The Oaks Golf Course Head Professional Ryan Rhees proved
that winning the 2018 Utah Section Omega Senior Player of the Year was no
mistake by winning the title again in 2019.
“It feels good,” Rhees said about winning the season-long
race in consecutive years. “We have a lot of good senior players in the Section
and to be able to play good enough to come out first is great. It’s fun,
everybody gets along great in our Section. It’s just fun playing with the guys.
“It’s not life or death out there but we go out and play
hard and try to do the best we can and have fun with it.”
Highlighting the list of his 2019 accomplishments was his
victory in the Senior Section Championship played at Alpine Country Club with
rounds of 66-72 – 138. The win also qualified him to compete in the 2019 Senior
PGA Professional Championship in Texas early October.
“For sure the Senior Section Championship, that was a big one,” Rhees said about which of his four wins meant the most.
Rhees teeing off on Alpine Country Club’s 9th hole in the Senior Section Championship.
Anyone working in the golf industry knows the difficulty of
finding time to play and practice, for Rhees, it’s a work in progress.
“It’s hard, you have to get used to playing your best when
you know you haven’t put in as much time as you should have. You’ve got to try
and talk yourself in to the fact that you can go out and play good.
“I’m a competitive person and I like to go out and win and
play the best I can. That keeps me motivated to practice as much as I can and
stay in shape as much as I can to stay competitive.”
Rhees tallied four wins on the season, including the Senior
Divisions of the Rose Park Open, Sanpete County Open, Tony Basso Group Black
Diamond Open and the Senior Section Championship.
Not only did he secure four wins in his 17-events played,
but he finished runner-up four times and only finished outside of the top five
on two occasions.
“It’s fun playing with the guys in the section. It’s one
thing I look forward to. It keeps me motivated at work, knowing I’ve got a
tournament to go play in on the weekend that I can go hangout and play golf
with the guys I like to be with and play against. It’s a fun Section to be in
because everyone gets along so well and there are a lot of great players so
it’s good to get out and test your game.”
Ryan Rhees Fast
Facts:
What book are you currently reading?
Shoe Dog, the Phil Night biography. That one was really good, just finished that
one and another book called Can’t Hurt Me,
it’s a Navy SEAL book, I really enjoy those.
I like to read, that’s
one of my hobbies, something I like to do when I’m not working.
What’s the last movie you watched?
I don’t see many movies anymore, really… Last movie we
watched was Downtown Abbey.
If you’ve watched The Country Club’s Assistant Professional Haley Dunn-Sturgeon play golf, the last word you would use to describe her game is ‘rookie.’ However, in her rookie season as a PGA associate member of the Utah Section PGA, there was no stopping her in claiming the Omega Women’s Player of the Year.
“Words cannot describe how amazing it feels,” she said. “I
love competitive golf and to win Player of the Year, it truly is an honor. I have
been working hard on my game and recovering from injuries so it is nice to get
back on top.”
She took the Section by storm by playing in four events that
provide points in the season-long race, and won two of them. She won the
Women’s Low Pro in the Valley View Open and cruised to the top of the Utah
Section PGA Women’s Match Play Championship at Riverside Country Club.
Sturgeon finished runner-up in the Brigham City Open Women’s Division and finished 10th at the Siegfried & Jensen Utah Women’s Open, her lowest finish of the season.
Sturgeon also competed for Team Utah PGA in the 2019 Jeannie Goddard Cup.
Finishing runner-up in the points race was TopGolf’s Carly
Dehlin-Hirsch, followed by Promontory Club’s Sadie Palmer in third and
Glenmoor’s Sam Crawford in fourth. This top-four have all recently started the
PGA Professional Golf Management Program (PGM) and are new associate members of
the Section.
After the points were totaled for the year, Sturgeon added
one more win on her season, just for good measure, at the Utah PGA
Pro-Assistant Championship in November when she teamed up with The Country
Club’s Wayne Fisher.
In fact, it was at the Pro-Assistant Championship that added
the extra icing on top for Sturgeon’s year when she shot a personal-low 63 on
her own ball in the first round at Bloomington Country Club.
“The highlight of the season is probably when I shot 63 on
my own ball,” she explained. “I made sure I putted out every shot so it was a
true score. It was also my first bogey-free round. I felt unstoppable that
day.”
Though her Utah Section play brought a season’s-worth of
results, she also fit in a Q School prep event for The Cactus Tour, where her best and worst shots of the year came on
the same hole.
“I believe it was on hole 16 on the Dinah Shore Course at
Mission Hills. It’s a dogleg right with a wide fairway and a palm tree on the
right side. Before teeing off I was talking with my dad to create our game
plan. Basically, it was to hit one down the middle and stay away from the palm
tree that blocks the second shot. What did I do… sprayed my drive right and
put it perfectly behind the palm tree.”
Luckily her best shot followed from 158 yards to the pin.
“I visualized a low hook that would bounce in front of the
green and roll up by the pin. I asked my dad for the five iron and hit the shot
exactly how I envisioned. It was icing on the cake when it stopped 15ft from
the hole. I then rolled in the putt for my most amazing birdie.”
Sturgeon started the PGA PGM program this year and is
currently teaching at The Country Club. She will be traveling back to Arizona
for the Cactus Tour during the off season.
Sturgeon looks forward to the opportunity to continue to
play and compete in Section events in 2020 as the amount of women members continues
to grow each year.
Haley Sturgeon Fast
Facts:
Do you have any superstitions when it comes to golf or
playing in tournaments?
I wish the answer was no, but I do. I try to only play with
a number four golf ball. When I’m on the practice green making three-foot
putts, if one ball misses multiple times, I feel that is the “bogey” ball and I
put it back in my bag… I’m slowly getting over this one.
What’s the last movie you watched?
The last movie I watched was Linsey Vonn: The Final Chapter.
What book is currently on your nightstand?
I’m not a huge book reader, but I love audio books. This is
usually what is playing while I’m practicing. Right now, I’m listening to Harry
Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
If you had to pick one PGA Tour member, one LPGA Tour
member and one actor to complete your group, who would you pick?
I would choose Tiger Woods, Paula Creamer and Justin Timberlake.
Golf is a game of no guarantees, and the unexpected
typically runs the show. However, when Davis Park Assistant Professional Zach
Johnson tees it up, it’s expected that he’ll be in contention.
After being in the mix to capture the Utah PGA Omega Player
of the Year award for years, Johnson finally came out on top in 2018 and has
done it again in 2019.
“To win Player of the Year for the second year in-a-row is very special,” Johnson said. “Each year it’s a goal at the top of my list that I set out to achieve. We have so many great players in our Section, you have to stay on top of your game and be competitive throughout the whole year in order to keep yourself in contention for this award.”
Johnson’s season included wins at The Oaks Open, the Utah Section Match Play Championship, tied for first at the Millard County Open, won the Salt Lake City Open and then capped off the season with a win at the Utah Section Championship.
Johnson with the Utah Section PGA Match Play Championship trophies.
“Of victories this year I would definitely say the Match
Play Championship was the sweetest,” he said. “I have had a few opportunities
to win that event and never was able to get it done. To win this year by
chipping in for eagle on the first extra hole of the final match was pretty
awesome.”
Though the Section Match Play Championship brought a lot of
excitement and a career-first, it wasn’t on the top of his personal highlight
list this season.
“Looking back on the year, the highlight for me was getting
back in contention to qualify for the PGA Championship again. In the final
round at the PGA Professional Championship I shot two-under to get into a
playoff. Although I fell short and was disappointed I didn’t advance through
the playoff, I proved a lot to myself in that round and event. I was able to
create some belief and momentum with my game which really kick-started my year.”
Johnson has had several opportunities to play on a national
level, including the 2018 PGA Championship and several PGA Professional
Championships and PGA Assistant Professional Championships.
“As a working pro with a family sometimes it gets hard to
juggle family, work and playing. Usually the first thing to be compromised is
playing so to be able to qualify and represent the Utah Section at national
events is always a privilege and something to look forward to each year.”
No matter how many national events Johnson has competed in,
the nerves are still there.
“I have to admit, I’m nervous during all competitive rounds to some extent,” he explained. I like that feeling. To me, it shows that I still care and want to compete. To overcome tournament nerves, and don’t get me wrong, sometimes it’s easier than others, you have to believe in yourself and draw from previous experience.”
Johnson reading a putt on the 8th green in the final round of the 2019 Siegfried & Jensen Utah Open
Though golf is never a game of guarantees, it’s fair to say
that when the Davis Park assistant pro is in the field, it’s a safe bet to find
him in the mix or at the top of the leaderboard.
Zach Johnson Fast Facts:
If you had to pick one PGA Tour member, one LPGA Tour
member and one actor to complete your foursome, who would you pick?
My foursome would be Tiger, Annika Sorenstam and Michael
Jordan. I’m not much of a movie guy so I went with another greatest of
all time athlete in Jordan.
When you find time,
do you prefer to play or practice?
To be completely honest, I don’t spend a lot of time working on my game. When I do have time to play or practice I prefer getting out and playing and competing over spending time on the range or practice greens. That’s what works best for me when it comes to preparing for events. This winter though I have set a goal for myself to work on getting in better physical shape and gaining some club head speed!
As the year winds down, local tournament playing opportunities
become far and in-between, which is why the 2019 Southern Utah Open, hosted by
SunRiver Golf Club and Head Professional Larry Ricketts, saw a large amount of
Utah Section professionals taking advantage of the opportunity to play and make
it a long weekend before the Pro-Assistant Championship began the following
day.
Golf Lab Teaching Professional Tommy Sharp won the
Professional Division and the first-place check with a (-4) 70-68, outlasting
Joe Summerhays and defending champion Justin Keiley by one stroke. Sharp birdied his last-three holes to make it
happen.
Sharp shot a (-1) 70 in the first round and was trailing
Summerhays and Keiley by one stroke. A one-stroke lead isn’t much going into
the final round, but a slow start in the final round wasn’t helping.
“Overall, I really hit the ball well and actually was getting
very frustrated in the middle of my round that I couldn’t make any putts,”
Sharp explained.
“With eight holes to play, I set a goal of playing my
final-eight holes in four-under to have any chance of winning and luckily I did
it… I birdied my final-three holes and got some help from them (Summerhays and
Keiley).
“It felt great to win the pro side of the Southern Utah Open
as it was my first victory in the calendar year, even though the points go for
next season,” Sharp continued. “On a funny note, my six-year-old son had
been giving me a hard time recently by saying ‘Dad, you haven’t won a
tournament in so long’ with extra emphasis on ‘so long.’ After the
round, I called him first to tell him and he was quite excited.”
This may be Sharp’s first win in the 2019 season, but with
consistent, steady play in his 14-events played, including a second-place
finish in the Section Sidebar of the 2019 Siegfried & Jensen Utah Open, Sharp
will finish fourth in the Omega Player of the Year race.
Bloomington Country Club’s Scott Brandt held a one-stroke lead
in the Pro Senior Division over The Oaks Head Pro Ryan Rhees after the first
round with a (-2) 69. Brandt would go on to a five-stroke win with a
second-round 69, with birdies on his final-two holes for good measure.
Quintin Sasser claimed the Super Senior Division after
trailing first-round leader Henry White by one stroke. Sasser’s 72 in the final
round was steady enough to finish one-over and win by two strokes.
A first-round 64 propelled St. George’s Hayden Christensen
(a) to a two-stroke lead over close friend Caden Hamill (a) in the first round.
but it was an eagle on the par-five 17th hole in the final round
that proved just enough to win the whole thing. Christensen shot rounds of (-8)
64-70 to claim the 2019 title.
There is a first time for everything, and for The Country
Club’s Wayne Fisher and Haley Dunn-Sturgeon it was the theme for their 2019
Utah Section PGA Pro-Assistant Championship victory on November 18-19 at Bloomington
Country Club and Sunbrook Golf Club.
“I am ecstatic,” Fisher said about the win. “I’ve heard so
much about how she (Sturgeon) plays. This is actually our first time playing
together. We came down not knowing how each of us played. I got to watch her
and play Bloomington for the very-first time ever, so it’s been a couple days
of firsts.”
Fisher and Sturgeon got off to a quick start at Bloomington
in the first round with a (-12) 60. At one point, starting on the 13th
hole in the shotgun start, The Country Club duo birdied seven holes in-a-row.
Sturgeon shot a career-low (-9) 63 on her own ball in the Fourball
format, maintaining her good play from the Utah Section Women’s Match Play Championship.
“Putting, I made putts from everywhere,” Sturgeon said. “I was
striking the ball well, putting well and to shoot 63, it was incredible. Career
low, first bogey-free round, a lot of firsts down here.”
“I think the country club is going to be ecstatic,” Fisher
continued. “This is above and beyond, we’ve talked about coming down. I used to
come down with Mr. Branca, but it’s been quite a few years so it’s nice to
represent TaylorMade because TaylorMade has been fantastic to me over the years
so I’m thrilled that I get to represent this.”
Fisher and Sturgeon shot a second-round (-4) 68 for a 128-tournament
total, which barely outlasted the charging Bloomington team of Scott Brandt and
Jed Wright, who shot a final round (-10) 62 to finish one-stroke back at 129.
St. George Golf Club’s James Hood and Cameron Hamill, a new
associate in the Utah Section, won the Net Division with a (-20) 62-62 – 124 to
win by one-stroke over three other teams tied at 125.
“We just ham-and-egged it,” said Hamill. “James made a
couple of good putts on our last few holes and got it done.”
“We didn’t make too many mistakes at the same time,” Hood
added “We saved ourselves on a couple of holes and took advantage of some good
shots.”
We owe Phil Deimling of TaylorMade and Jeff Smith of Adidas
a huge thank you for supporting the Section in being sponsors of this year’s
Pro-Assistant Championship. They treat our membership well and we’re lucky to
have them.
Another thank you goes to Bloomington Country Club and
Sunbrook Golf Club for allowing us to use their facilities and play their
courses. It was a fitting end to a great year of tournaments.
