MIDWAY — Before Bowen Mauss could hold off KJ Ofahengaue in a semifinal match of the 128th Utah state men's amateur championship Friday, he first had to survive a marathon.
Easier said than done.
The Arizona State rising sophomore edged BYU transfer David Liechty in 19 holes earlier Friday — a replay of a classic en route to Mauss' championship title a year ago — before holding off Ofahengaue, 3 and 2 at Soldier Hollow Golf Course.
The former Corner Canyon star jumped out to a 3-up lead after seven holes, survived a charge where Ofahengaue won three of the next four holes, and pulled away to clinch the match on the 16th green.
"I just tried to stick to my game, and give myself as many looks as I could for birdie," Mauss said. "Hopefully the putter's hot, and it has been.
"Maybe it was momentum, but I just tried to stick to what I did all week."
Mauss will face 38-year-old former Utah Tech golfer Cameron Crawford in Saturday's 36-hole championship with a shot at becoming the first back-to-back state amateur champion since Preston Summerhays in 2018-19.
Crawford, who played collegiately at Utah Tech, held off Utah State's Noah Moody, 1 up in the other semifinal.
In Friday's quarterfinal, Liechty jumped out early, then went 1-up through nine holes before Mauss rallied with a birdie on No. 18 and a match-clinching par save on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff.
The former All-WAC golfer from Layton who recently transferred to BYU was the first golfer to put Mauss in a deficit since the defending state amateur champion finished tied for 45th in the 36-hole stroke-play portion of the tournament.
"He played really well, and I just happened to come out on top," Mauss said. "I got punched in the mouth a little bit; I wasn't playing that bad, but he had made three birdies in six holes. I just tried to stay patient, and knew my birdies would come."
Mauss was similarly "punched in the mouth when Ofahengaue, the former three-time all-state selection at Lehi who spent three seasons at Utah Tech before transferring to Utah Valley for his senior campaign, pulled one back at No. 11 to pull within one.
But as temperatures soared well above 90 degrees with excessive heat advisories and one of the most hill-laced golf courses in the hills above the Heber Valley, Mauss took a slow-play warning in stride, asked a rules official if his dad — who was following older brother Jackson's quarterfinal loss when he first teed off — could carry his bag.
And the rest was history.
"I like to be on my own as much as I can; it's just kind of how I've been my whole life," Mauss said. "But on this back nine, it gets pretty slope-y, and it's nice to have him carry the bag for me."
128th Utah State Amateur Championship
Quarterfinals
- Bowen Mauss d. David Liechty, 19 holes
- KJ Ofahengaue d. Carter Frisby, 2 up
- Noah Moody d. Kanyon DeRyke, 2 up
- Cameron Crawford d. Jackson Mauss, 23 holes
Semifinals
- Mauss d. Ofahengaue, 3 and 2
- Crawford d. Moody, 1 up
