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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Golf Association didn’t have to move the championship to the final week of December in St. George as some have joked — or even feared. But the sponsors of the Utah State Amateur Championship did make a few modifications in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state amateur championship has been rescheduled to Sept. 1-5 at Jeremy Ranch Golf and Country Club in Park City, the association announced this week. It will be the first time the entire tournament is played at a single site since 2012 when the state moved to the tournament’s current format.
But most importantly, the show will go on, UGA executive director Jacob Miller said.
"One way or another, we’re going to get this thing done. Somebody will hoist the trophy," Miller told KSL.com. "For 121 straight years; that’s a really neat moniker, especially for a smaller golf association. But the other piece is this event is one of the biggest amateurs in the country, compared to the size of the state and the organization.
"It’s a big deal to the amateurs in the state, and even to the professionals in this state."
While later in the calendar than the typical early- to mid-summer annual event, the new dates preserve the tournament’s title as the longest continuous running tournament in golf history at 122 straight years.
The state amateur has survived two World Wars and a previous worldwide pandemic, the Spanish flu of 1918, and Miller refused to let another pandemic end the streak under his watch.
There could be additional modifications, such as stationary flagsticks and social-distancing guidelines that could limit the number of people in each golfer’s gallery. Those are all under consideration, but it would be a small price to pay to keep the event running.
"Everything is on the table," Miller said. "Part of wanting to push it back is to see how ‘normal’ society can be for that event. This gives us time to look at a variety of options.
"If we’re at the same place as we are now, we’ll continue to follow the CDC guidelines for social distancing and other guidelines."
The new dates will also allow the UGA to monitor several other organizations, from the PGA Tour to local and regional tournaments on the Korn Ferry Tour, as they strive to put on what has become one of the more professional amateur championships among the 50 states — and one that regularly attracts close to 800 golfers from beginning to end.
The Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship is currently scheduled for June 22-28 at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington. That comes just a week after the tour’s resumption from its coronavirus-caused hiatus, set to end June 8-14 at a new tournament in Ponta Vedra, Florida.
"We pride ourselves at having that professional feel," Miller said. "Giving ourselves a little extra time will certainly help us to run a really quality championship."
UJGA golf opener
Lehi's Lila Galeai, Skyline's Tyson Shelley take top honors in return to normalcy, junior golf opener
Galeai came from behind, overturning a 1-stroke deficit on Long with four birdies on the back nine en route to a 4-under 68 and a two-day total of 136 to hold off Long and Park City’s Arden Louchheim in 36 holes at the Fairways Magazine UJGA Preview at TalonsCove.The field will be slimmed to 144 players, with the top 32 after the 36-hole stroke play round qualifying for match play. Qualifying rounds for the event will be played in August.
Pushing the tournament to September also likely means a new champion will be crowned. Preston Summerhays — an Arizona resident, two-time reigning champ and youngest amateur champion in Utah history — is set to tee off at the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in New York beginning Sept. 14.
Summerhays qualified for the professional tournament by winning the U.S. Junior Amateur last year.
Of course, if anyone could make the travel and extended play work, it’s a Summerhays, considered by many to be Utah’s top family of golf.
The postponement of the UGA’s prized event also moved several other events back, and the UGA was forced to cancel a few other events.
The Utah State Women’s Amateur will be open the summer adult season July 13-16 at Soldier Hollow golf course in Wasatch County. The Mid-Amateur Championship has been rescheduled for July 20-21 at Davis Park, while the women’s four-ball and Mary Lou Baker Open have both been canceled.
"The two at the top of the list to save are the state amateur and women’s state amateur," Miller said. "If we can’t run anything else this year, we want to run those two events.
"We’ve pretty much taken all shotgun-start tournaments off our calendar this year. And ultimately, we can only backload the schedule so much."
