Fairwaysmag.com // Fairways Magazine Online

Zions Bank Co-Players of the Week

3/28/2019

CHanikan ( Pluem) Yongyuan
& Kaylee Shimizu

This week we present @suugolf Pleum Yongyuan who picked up a win at the Red Rocks Invitational, the 2nd win of her freshman season & UVU Women's Golf Team member Kaylee Shimizu who grabbed her 1st collegiate medalist honor at Anuenue Spring Break Classic, as Zions Bank Players of the Week!

0 Comments

The Approach

3/25/2019

0 Comments

During my interviews for a Fairways story last year about the “Utah Golf Reround Show,” Utah Section PGA Executive Director Devin Dehlin made an interesting observation. He said the show's creation stemmed partly from the void left by newspaper sports sections.

That observation hit home, and made a lot of sense. And that's why Fairways has become so important to me as a way to remain more fully involved in the Utah golf community.

I continue to work for The Salt Lake Tribune, and proudly so, and there's a theory that Fairways is a competing publication. Historically, that probably was true. Yet as is the case with many newspapers around the country, even in golf-centric markets, The Tribune's golf coverage has been reduced significantly due to shrinking staffs and other factors.

As Dehlin pointed out, a weekly golf page formerly was a staple of The Tribune and other newspapers, focusing on local developments in the game and highlighting courses and PGA professionals. That presence is greatly diminished now in traditional publications, making Fairways (digitally and in print) and innovations such as the “Reround” show increasingly vital.

So many people in the Utah golf community have stories that need to be told, and I hope to deliver that material in this column. This phrase often comes to my mind: I don't love golf, as much as I love golfers. Utah golfers, especially. I have so much admiration and appreciation for people who play and administer the game at every level and create the fabric of golf in our state.

Being around golfers is so enjoyable for me that I don't even have to play to have fun. For example, I like to practice at Forest Dale Golf Course in the area between the Nos. 5 and 7 fairways, hitting and pickup balls and watching golfers play those holes and the par-3 No. 6 behind the practice tee. I study their swings and watch them interact with the others in their group, and think about how golf brings people together.

So I hope to tell their stories, from the PGA Tour players to the municipal course foursomes, like the characters who used to inhabit the nine-hole University Golf Course, where I once played upwards of 1,000 holes every year. (That makes me a prime example of the effects of closing a course, but that's a story for another day.)

While promising to look for the stories of “real people,” I acknowledge that nothing is more satisfying than following the Utahns who pursue professional golf as a career, whether or not they make it to the PGA Tour. They're representing the state and playing for us. I'll always remember a Tribune profile of former Gov. Mike Leavitt that mentioned how he liked to check his computer for the scores of Utahns on the PGA Tour. That's what we all do every week, right?

That's part of membership in the Utah golf community. I'm spoiled; I know that. I was walking the back nine at Augusta National Golf Club last April when Tony Finau started making a bunch of birdies on Sunday, nearly adding his seventh in a row at No. 18 as he concluded his first Masters with a top-10 finish. Similarly, it was rewarding the previous year to watch Daniel Summerhays play in his first Masters, as the first member of a remarkable Utah golf family to compete in the event.

Finau's rise in the game has been phenomenal, especially because his arrival on the PGA Tour came at a time when two other Utahn natives, Summerhays and Zac Blair, were playing at that level. That four-year convergence was remarkable, almost mathematically impossible, when you think about 125 exempt members of the PGA Tour, juxtaposed against Utah's climate and population.

Having that threesome play together on the tour defied all probability. And maybe it can happen again, as Summerhays and Blair try to play their way back via the Web.com Tour, or other young golfers rise to that level.

And then there's longtime Utah resident Mike Weir, playing the Web.com Tour this season as preparation for his PGA Tour Champions debut in May 2020. Weir represents his own generation of senior golfers from Utah, after the likes of Bruce Summerhays, Bob Betley, Mike Reid, Dan Forsman and Jay Don Blake have provided a lot of material in their 50s and 60s.

At the other end of the age scale, the Utah Junior Golf Association keeps nurturing and producing golfers to watch. The UJGA is helping to stock the men's and women's college golf programs in the state and eventually will have more alumni on the pro tours.

One of my favorite events of the year is the Utah Jr. Amateur. The past two summers, I've walked all 18 holes to watch Max Brenchley vs. Blake Tomlinson and Cole Ponich vs. Preston Summerhays in the boys' final matches at Oakridge Country Club, marveling at their ability. That's why I was not all that surprised the following week, when Summerhays won the State Amateur at Oakridge last June.

The kids just keep coming in Utah golf, and I'll enjoy watching them play, wherever the game takes them.

Kurt Kragthorpe is a Salt Lake Tribune sportswriter and frequent contributor to Fairways.

0 Comments

Zions Bank Player of the Week

3/20/2019

0 Comments

Kelsey Chugg

With rounds of 68-74 at Green Spring and Bloomington CC, Kelsey Chugg scored a total of 85 Modified Stableford points to win her third UGA Women's Winterchamps title in the last four years.

In doing so, Chugg beat the reining State Am, Stroke Play, and Mary Lou Baker Open champions and claims this week's Zions Bank Player of the Week honor.

0 Comments

Torched

3/13/2019

1 Comment

Fairways Department - By Dick Harmon

Provo firefighters search through the wreckage of the Fairways Media offices in downtown Provo a week after a fire that destroyed the 100-year old building. The fire, which started in the basement of the Los Hermanos restaurant below Fairways Media, was started by “spontaneous combustion” of restaurant towels stored in the prep kitchen, according to Provo City’s Fire Marshal reports.

Randy Dodson’s cell phone contacts, relationships, and family are his most valuable possessions but it was hard to preach that the night his Fairways Media offices burned down on downtown Provo’s Center Street.

That night in February, Dodson was having dinner with me and Vince Recine, general manager of Utah’s PGA Tour Superstore, at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas some 377 miles away. We had just finished attending media day for the historic Las Vegas Country Club where owners unveiled a statue of Rat Pack star entertainer Dean Martin before a great round of golf.

Dodson received a text from this magazine’s art director, Garrit Johnson, who was working in the office a little late that night. Johnson said he smelled smoke, went outside and saw smoke billowing out of a back wall vent of Los Hermanos Mexican restaurant’s basement a few floors below the Fairways Media offices. Johnson immediately dialed 911 and while waiting for firefighters to arrive, he grabbed his computer and a handful of his external hard drive storage devices. Firemen did not allow him to return to the building. Reportedly, a firefighter fell and injured his arm trying to access the basement where an investigation days later claimed recently laundered towels spontaneously caught fire. It didn’t help that the main floor of the restaurant was undergoing resurfacing and hardwood floor stain fumes engulfed the 100-year-old building.

Dodson sat at dinner receiving photos and texts from Provo, watching in sober silence as flames overtook the building and burning through the roof. An army of firefighters and pump trucks used hoses to dump thousands of gallons of water on the fire and the roof above his offices. The fire and weight of the water crushed the roof and sent two of Fairways Media’s four offices through the floor all the way through the restaurant into the basement.

The photos and Johnson’s reports made Dodson sick. It was like each message through cyberspace dumped a brick on his chest. One after another the updates came.

After a sleepless night, he canceled the next day’s plans and returned home where snow and freezing temperatures turned the building’s smoldering remains into blocks of ice. He couldn’t inspect anything for a week.

The fire destroyed Dodson’s offices. The decor included a framed and signed poster by Billy Casper and tournament hole flags used at the USGA’s 2012 Amateur Public Links Championship at Soldier Hollow. It took down two autographed collectible PGA Tour bags by Craig Stadler and Johnny Miller, which Dodson paid nearly $2,000 for at charity auctions. Gone were nearly 28-years of back issues of Fairways magazine, the official voice of the Utah Golf Association, boxes of collectible vinyl rock and roll records, two sets of original framed first year Apple Computer posters, framed magazine covers and tournament posters from Johnny Miller’s Champion’s Challenge at Thanksgiving Point that included autographs of every golfing legend and celebrity that played over the life of that tournament. Gone also are computers, monitors, camera equipment and printers as well as smoke and water damaged files containing client contracts.

Also lost was a big chunk of Utah golf history, books of color slides of years of tournament play featuring some of the historic top pro and amateur players from the past 27-years. Gone also is a significant file of old black and white Utah Open and Utah State Amateur photograph originals donated by former sports writer Roger Graves. Dodson’s own desktop computer was filled with water, his computer screen melted, an executive desk and credenza donated to him by his father were destroyed as were two golf bags and clubs belonging to Jesse, his son. Jesse also lost a framed autographed picture of Karl Malone and John Stockton from the glory days of when Fairways Media published the Utah Jazz HomeCourt magazine. Historic framed photos of Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan and Billy, destroyed. Gone are the Utah State Amateur Media Day trophies and nameplates that were the only record of winners, a fun icon of local media who cover golf in the state.

More than 50 percent of the Fairways office floor is simply gone, as is 100 percent of the roof.

As devastating as this fire of 2019 was to Dodson, his employees and the publishing home of the UGA, it hasn’t killed the spirit of the crew. Remarkably, they found temporary space within a day at TAMS, a computer recycling business in Pleasant Grove owned by a friend, Brad Morley. On the cusp of a deadline to publish the Utah Book of Golf and the February issue of Fairways 18 digital magazine, the staff missed just about 36 hours of actual production time.

Slowly, like Phoenix rising from the soot, a recovery took hold. TAMS remarkably recovered data from Dodson’s external hard drives. The hard drives saved by Johnson’s quick-thinking action saved many years of digital photographs, story layouts, graphics, videos and production software. New computers and camera equipment will be purchased. A Gofundme effort triggered by East Bay Golf Course Head Professional Brett Watson drew an immediate response and Dodson’s business insurance is expected to cover some losses outside the valuable, irreplaceable collectibles.

Fortunately, former UGA Executive Director Joe Watts is working on a book chronicling the history of golf in Utah taken from the pages of Fairways magazine, of which he has one copy of each Fairways issue published from 1992 through 2017. “If there was anyone you’d want to have those copies in hand, it would be Joe Watts,” said Dodson. That collection takes the sting out of losing all the back copies of the magazine, now in ashes or waterlogged.

Bruce Strom, manager of Wasatch State Park for the state of Utah, found replacements for the signed Billy Casper poster and Publinx hole flag, leftovers from the national championship and the 50-year anniversary flag from Wasatch golf course. Dodson has spent hours reconstructing contracts and paperwork and his bookkeeping files, slowly reestablishing his business foundation.

Remarkably, by holding this magazine in your hands, you have a trophy representing the overcoming of a disaster, commemorated by the fire icon in the cover’s Fairways logo flag.

In weeks following the destructive blaze that left most of Fairways Media offices in the rubble of trusses, soot, ash, ice and garbage, firefighters pumped nine truckloads of water out of the basement of the restaurant. Dodson had worked at that location in historic Provo for eight years.

Dining with Dodson that night in early February when he got word of the fire, witnessing his pain ever since, and seeing he and his staff doggedly rise up through the big takedown, has been inspiring.

It’s hard to start over. But he realizes his greatest assets are his relationships over a lifetime and the 27-plus-years of the magazine. I first met Dodson when we both worked at the Daily Herald in Provo in the 90s before there was the Internet. He doesn’t quit, even in a string of bogeys and the danged doubles. He always believes a birdie is just around the next green.

That’s an attitude you can play with every single day.

Dick Harmon is a sportswriter for the Deseret News and a frequent contributor to Fairways.

1 Comment

Dixie Swing

3/12/2019

0 Comments

Sand Hollow Amateur

By Dick Harmon

Beware, the young gun is hot this winter and he has his eyes on the Utah State Amateur.

Lone Peak senior Zach Jones continued his winter dominance by winning the San Hollow Amateur in early February. It was his second victory in the Dixie Swing which included a win at the St. George Amateur and runner-up finish at the Coral Canyon Amateur in January.

Jones, the defending 6A Utah State High School medalist, fired rounds of 70-72 for a two-under par 142 to win by four strokes over Braydon Swapp (74-72 146). Jake Vincent was third at four-over par.

Jones’ first round of two-under par was one of the only red numbers on the leaderboard at Sand Hollow although conditions were mild. His consistency through the second round was the difference.

“I was still hitting it good the second day like I was the first day,” said Jones. “I didn't make many birdies though early on. I had a couple of three putts and eventually I was over par going into my last nine holes. I already birdied 10 and 11 to get a one-under par and the rain picked up and I made a double bogey on number 12. I was able to make pars all through that really hard stretch of 13 through 16 and I birdied 17 which was my last hole.

The BYU-bound recruit, who signed with the Cougars in November, had a 20-foot eagle putt on No. 17 that he eventually tapped in for birdie but the best shot of his tournament came on the tough, picturesque par-3 No. 15 in the final round.

“The rain started to come down a little bit and it was windy and it was playing about 200 yards,” said Jones. “The pin was on the back and that green is really small. So I hit a four-iron because it was in the wind and I hit it to about 15 feet right below the hole. I think that was a really good shot because lots of people are struggling on that whole stretch towards the end and it was hard to even hit that green.”

Jones’ winter run has come with his driver. “When you put yourself in the fairway you're going to hit more greens and so it helps with irons and it makes everything better. I’ve hit fairways and I think that’s led to some good rounds.”

Jones took it to 17-under par in the three tournaments in Dixie. He finished second to University of Utah golfer Kyler Dunkle in the Coral Canyon Amateur, going six-under par. He tied Ute Tristan Mandur at 9-under at the St. George Amateur at the St. George Golf Club and won on the second playoff hole with a 30-foot birdie. It was his second win at that event in three years.

Jones took his official recruiting trip to BYU the week after his win at Sand Hollow and said he would time his two-year mission plans after high school graduation in May so he can compete in the Utah State Amateur in July.

By going winless last year in UGA Player Performance point events, Jones said he entered this season with a chip on his shoulder. “This has been a real good start and I want to play well and see what I can do the rest of the year.”

Rob Bachman shot 76-74 six over to win Super Seniors over Al Simkins by four shots. Richfield’s Mike Jorgenson won the Senior division by two shots over Randy Hicken with a four-over par 148. Richard Luke was the First Flight winner with a 7-over par 151.

Dick Harmon is a sportswriter for the Deseret News and a frequent contributor to Fairways.

Siddens’ Aces Underline Coral Canyon Am

By Randy Dodson

What are the odds?

Kirk Siddens doesn’t care, all he knows is that he doubled is career hole-in-one total, in a four hole stretch, and won the Senior Flight of the Coral Canyon Amateur, a Utah Golf Association Senior Player Performance Rankings event.

Acing both the par-3 3rd and the par-3 6th holes jump started Siddens’ opening round 7-under 65 and provided just enough cushion to edge Randy Hicken (-3) by a stroke after a final round 75, to claim the 36-hole title.

“I didn’t see it go in on the first one because of the hole location but on 6 I hit it right over the flag and it sucked back and kept trickling, trickling and then it disappeared,” said Siddens. “Then we went crazy because that doesn’t happen.”

Meanwhile, University of Utah Senior golfer Kyler Dunkle continued his winning ways with an 11-under 66-67 – 133 performance to outpace runner-up Zach Jones by five strokes to get the Championship Flight win.

Since his runner-up finish in last year’s Utah State Amateur, Dunkle has been crowned champion in the Colorado State Amateur, Low Amateur in the Utah Open, medalist in two of Utah’s fall season tournaments and now the top spot 2019 Coral Canyon Amateur.

“I’ve been able to capitalize on some of the better opportunities that I’ve had and haven’t been making too many mistakes. I’ve been able to make a lot of birdies. I hit driver every time I can and try to get down the hole as far as I can. I just need to give myself decent birdie looks,” said Dunkle.

Brigham Young University commit Jones finished the tournament at 6-under par as runner-up. Jereme Johnson shot a (+2) 73-73 – 146 to claim First Flight honors.

Randy Dodson is the publisher of Fairways magazine and president of Fairways Media.

Jones Wins St. George Am;
Siddens Wins Senior Division Again

By Jesse Dodson

Zach Jones had an eventful 2018 season by winning the 6A High School State Championship with his Lone Peak teammates and individually by draining a coast-to-coast putt on the 18th hole at TalonsCove to beat USA Junior Ryder Cupper Cole Ponich by one stroke for the medalist spot. He concluded 2018 by committing to play for the BYU Men’s Golf Team.

He started is 2019 season with the same excitement. Jones found himself in a playoff with University of Utah’s Tristen Mandur, tied at 9-under for the tournament. After tying the first playoff hole with birdies, Jones drained a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole to win the St. George Am for the second time in three years.

“In the playoff we went to hole 10,” Jones said. “I hit a wedge shot to six feet, Tristen hit it inside of me; we both made birdies. Then we went to 17. I hit my wedge shot and it landed by the hole but spun back a good 30 feet and Tristen had probably 20 feet from just off the green and I made my putt for birdie.”

“I played good the first day,” Jones continued. “I made a bunch of birdies but I had a few bad bogeys. Day two I didn’t get many birdies to drop on our first nine but I made five birdies on our second nine on holes 1, 2, 5, 6 and 8.”

In the first two events of the Dixie Swing, Kirk Siddens has accomplished a full season’s-worth of wins, and for some, a lifetime’s-worth of holes-in-one. To continue his momentum from his Coral Canyon Am victory and hole-in-one extravaganza, Siddens won the Senior Division with scores of 72-72 for a two-stroke victory over Jeremy Telford.

“The St. George Am, I guess you could say, was frosting on the cake after winning at Coral,” Siddens said. "Conditions were difficult both days but overall I played very consistently and managed to stay away from any real trouble. It certainly has been an incredible start to the year and hopefully I can keep it up.”

Jesse Dodson is a frequent contributor to Fairways.

Utah Golf Newcomer Allysha Mateo
Wins Sunriver Ladies Am

By Jesse Dodson

The first Utah Golf Association Women’s Player Performance Ranking (WPPR) event of the 2019 season was the SunRiver Ladies Amateur on January 19th at SunRiver Golf Club in St. George, Utah.

With several 2018 UGA winners in the field, including Women’s Player of the Year Carly Dehlin-Hirsch, it was Utah Golf’s newcomer and BYU Women’s Golf freshman Allysha Mateo who stole the show with a two-stroke victory.

Mateo, from Mililani, Hawaii, was steady and consistent in the first round with one bogey, one birdie and 16 pars for an (E) 71. Her final round was a little more eventful with four bogeys and four birdies to remain even for the tournament and take home her first victory in Utah in her first-event played.

“It feels great to win my first event in Utah,” Mateo said. “I’ve been working a lot of things during the off season and it’s nice to see some results. This tournament was a good test to see how I would execute what I’ve been working on under real pressure.”

“She’s a very hard worker who had a plan and executed that plan well this week,” said BYU Women’s Coach Carrie Roberts. “She’s solid fundamentally and her preparation coming in was key. She was a very good player in Hawaii winning several junior golf tournaments.”

“It’s going to be a fun season,” Mateo continued. “I’m really looking forward to competing. I’m just looking to go into every tournament with confidence.”

The next WPPR event is the UGA Winterchamps on March 16-17, which will be played at SunRiver, Green Springs Golf Course and Bloomington Country Club.

Jesse Dodson is a frequent contributor to Fairways.

Long, Gray and Hammer
All Secure Wins at Hurricane Amateur

By Jesse Dodson

The annual Hurricane Amateur played at and hosted by Sky Mountain Golf Course and Utah Section PGA Head Professional Kent Abegglen showcased a variety of winners January 25-26 in Hurricane, Utah.

Berlin Long, 15, has found a lot of success in the Utah junior golf circuits, including making it to the finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt competition at Augusta National. She’s now finding success in the Dixie Swing events with a win in the Ladies Flight with rounds of (+6) 72-78.

“To be able to win the Hurricane Am this early in the season helps me to see that all my hard work and practice through the winter is paying off,” Long said.

“It is a goal of mine to be able to compete in and win these UGA events as a junior,” Long continued. “It shows me how I will be able to compete in upcoming tournaments in and out of state.”

Southern Utah University Men’s golfer Ethan Gray also grabbed his first Dixie Swing victory at the Hurricane Amateur with a two-stroke win over first-round leader Caden Hamill. Gray found himself one-stroke back after round one with a (-3) 69. Round two played a little tougher, however Gray finished with a 73, two-under for the event and a two-stroke win for the SUU Thunderbird.

Craig Hammer left the Hurricane Amateur with a victory in the Senior Flight shooting rounds of (+2) 75-71. Allen Simkins, who was leading going into the final round, came in second, two-strokes off the lead. Ryan Turman of St. George won the Men’s Regular Flight by one stroke with rounds of (+9) 73-80.

Jesse Dodson is a frequent contributor to Fairways.

Hayden Christensen Wins Ledges Am

By Jesse Dodson

The final event of the Dixie Swing was The Ledges Amateur, held in St. George, Utah, on February 15-16. Dixie State University alumnus Hayden Christensen came away with the victory after two playoff holes with current DSU golfer Brock Nielson.

“Winning The Ledges Am felt amazing,” Christensen said. “Especially working as a construction supervisor full time, I normally only get to play golf on the weekends. It felt good to win.”

Christensen finished round one with at (-1) 71, two strokes off round-one leader David Jennings. A birdie on the final hole for Christensen forced a playoff with Nielson, who shot 72-72. After two holes, Christensen walked away with the win.

It’s safe to say Christensen likes The Ledges Am. He played for DSU from 2011 to 2015 and turned pro right after college. However, before turning pro he won The Ledges Am. After a few years of being pro and getting his amateur status back, his first win as an amateur comes at The Ledges Am.

Christensen plans on playing a few tournaments this season, including the Utah State Amateur and looks to play well enough to qualify to play in the 2019 Utah Open.

Jesse Dodson is a frequent contributor to Fairways.

0 Comments

Zions Bank Champion of the Month

3/7/2019

0 Comments

Kyler Dunkle

0 Comments

Zions Bank Player of the Week

3/7/2019

0 Comments

Dan Horner

Former Utah State Am champ Dan Horner captured his 1st win of the new season at the Schneiter Memorial Am at The Bluff Golf Course March 1. Horner said he was “happy to just be out playing golf” then birdied 3 of last 4 holes to secure the win and be named Zions Bank Player of the Week.

0 Comments

Zions Bank Co-Players of the Week

CHanikan ( Pluem) Yongyuan​& Kaylee Shimizu

The Approach

Zions Bank Player of the Week

Kelsey Chugg

Torched

Dixie Swing

Sand Hollow Amateur

Siddens’ Aces Underline Coral Canyon Am

Jones Wins St. George Am;​Siddens Wins Senior Division Again

Utah Golf Newcomer Allysha MateoWins Sunriver Ladies Am

Long, Gray and Hammer​All Secure Wins at Hurricane Amateur

Hayden Christensen Wins Ledges Am

Zions Bank Champion of the Month

Kyler Dunkle

Zions Bank Player of the Week

Dan Horner

Archives

CHanikan ( Pluem) Yongyuan
& Kaylee Shimizu

Jones Wins St. George Am;
Siddens Wins Senior Division Again

Utah Golf Newcomer Allysha Mateo
Wins Sunriver Ladies Am

Long, Gray and Hammer
All Secure Wins at Hurricane Amateur