- Arden Louchheim won the 119th Utah women's state amateur, defeating Kate Walker 7 and 6.
- Louchheim calls it her biggest achievement, adding her name to a prestigious list.
- Walker, recovering from a car crash, finished as runner-up, boosting her confidence.
MIDWAY — As a sports media major who happens to play Big Ten golf at Nebraska, Arden Louchheim isn't afraid to be objectively honest about her game.
And, objectively, she knows she took a step back from her freshman season to last year's sophomore campaign.
But the junior stands to take a bigger step forward in the fall, after the former Utah junior golf standout from Park City claimed her spot among Utah golf royalty at the 119th Utah women's state amateur with a 7 and 6 win over St. George's Kate Walker in the 36-hole championship match Thursday at Wasatch Mountain State Park Golf Course.
With the win, Louchheim advances to the U.S. women's amateur Aug. 4-10 at Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in Bandon, Oregon.
From recent champs like Tess Blair and Grace Summerhays to Kelsey Chugg, who won her sixth title last year at TalonsCove Golf Course in Saratoga Springs, adding her name to the group is "undoubtedly" the biggest achievement of Louchheim's career.
"To get to add my name to that list means the world to me," she said. "I've seen all of those great players, and to have this little checkpoint in my career is real validation that I'm moving in the right direction and what I'm working on in my game is correct. It gives me a lot of confidence going into my junior year."
Trailing by one after four holes, Louchheim went on a tear, shooting 38 on her first nine to take a 3-up lead and stretching the advantage to six with a birdie on the par-4 18th hole.
She stretched her advantage as high as eight the second time through the front nine on Wasatch Mountain's Lake course. Walker cut the deficit to 6-up with a birdie on the par-5, 462-yard ninth hole.
But Louchheim got it back with a clutch par putt on the par-4, 331-yard No. 11 to help seal the win with her short game.
To that, she owes one of her former foes: BYU golfer Berlin Long, also one of her closest friends since Louchheim was 10 years old who saddled up to caddy her final two matches.
"If anyone was close to the greens, they could hear me on a lot of putts: I'd tell her, this one's on you," Louchheim recalled. "I'm hitting it where you tell me to, and it went in. That helped a lot."
The 2023 Utah girls junior amateur champion and three-time 2A state medalist at Rowland Hall finished seventh after stroke-play qualifying and battled through a bracket that included former two-time women's amateur champion Steph Belnap, Long and Chugg, who was looking to be only the second player in Utah women's golf history to win seven amateur titles.
To her credit, Long came back after Louchheim eliminated her 5 and 3 in a quarterfinal, and caddied for her the rest of the way.
Louchheim credits her caddy for her fiery putter, and her path toward what she calls "absolutely" the biggest accomplishment of her career.
"Up until this point, it probably was the junior state am," Louchheim said. "Getting to win this one, especially after beating Kelsey yesterday in a big match and the caliber of players in this tournament, it's unlikely anything you can get. This is undoubtedly my biggest win yet."
Walker, a rising senior at Crimson Cliffs High who has committed to Utah Tech, capped a week that included wins over Westminster's Ashley Lam, incoming Weber State freshman Adley Nelson and former 2A champion Natalie Mclane of Herriman with her first state amateur runner-up finish.
It's another highlight in a summer of them, one that includes a 4A team title with the Mustangs, and wins in the UJGA Coca Cola Junior and the 40th UJGA Utah junior amateur en route to the week.
After taking two weeks off following a car crash that left her with a broken pinky finger — but didn't require surgery — Walker rebounded to play some of the best junior golf in the state the summer before her senior year.
"I'm good enough. I think (this week) brought a lot of confidence to me," Walker said.
"Being able to play in the state tournament and help my team was the biggest goal, as well as being able to play this summer, too. I'm super grateful to be able to still play."
Next year's Utah women's state amateur — the 120th edition under the Utah Golf Association — will be held at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington.
