OGDEN — Growing up in Farmington and the surrounding Davis County area before his family moved to Scottsdale prior to his collegiate career at Arizona State, it might be easy to assume Preston Summerhays has vast reserves of experience to draw on as the Korn Ferry Tour’s Utah Championship moves to Ogden Golf and Country Club this weekend.
Be careful of those assumptions, though.
“Everybody thinks I’ve played here a lot. But I actually haven’t played Ogden much,” the two-time Utah state amateur champion and newly minted pro said Tuesday during a practice round. “I think the last time I was here was maybe 2-3 years ago.”
Summerhays said he grew up playing mostly Davis Park, Valley View and Oakridge Country Club — the former site of the Utah Championship where his family are members. But he’ll still be among the sentimental favorites as the state’s annual Korn Ferry Tour moves to Weber County beginning Thursday.
He’ll be joined by close friend and Ogden native Connor Howe, the Weber High grad by way of Georgia Tech now in his second professional season.
Other locals in the field include conditional member and BYU graduate Peter Kuest, former Korn Ferry Tour champ Daniel Summerhays, and incoming BYU freshman Kihei Akina — who, similar to Summerhays, hadn’t played Ogden Golf and Country Club until last week before his second appearance in the Utah Championship.
“It’s a cool course,” said the former Lone Peak standout and top-10 recruit nationally who earned 6A medalist honors three times. “It’s short, but it’s got some really cool holes. I think there’s going to be a lot of wedges.
“It’ll be scoreable, for sure. I think it fits my game pretty well.”
Few — if anyone — have the kind of experience playing the 7,045-yard, par-71 course with $1 million in prize money at Ogden Golf and Country Club as Howe, though.
“I’d say I have as much experience out here as you can get,” he said. “Our family has been members here for 20 years, and my brother and I grew up playing out here. This is where we learned the game.
“I’m pretty comfortable on the golf course.”
So what advice would the former two-time All-ACC golfer and two-time Utah state champion give any of his first-time competitors?
“There are a few greens out here where you definitely don’t want to be above the hole,” howe said in a brief moment of candor. “They can get pretty slick, and if you’re above the hold, you have to be pretty tentative with your speed and can’t be very aggressive.
“But I don’t want to give away too many secrets,” he added, “you know?”
Kuest, the former BYU standout and 2020 Utah Open champion who recently moved to Dallas after playing out of American Fork, will be making his 49th start on the Korn Ferry Tour, where he has one top-five finish in 18 cuts made.
But returning to Utah with friends, good weather, and the benefits of hitting tee shots at altitude like the 4,298 feet he’ll see this weekend won’t hurt his game.
“You don’t have to work on it too hard,” said Kuest, who finished tied for 67th at last week’s Price Cutter Charity Championship in Springfield, Missouri. “It goes.”
Howe likewise shot a four-day total of 7-under-par 281 last week in Missouri, though he’s hoping for a better finish in his 18th Korn Ferry Tour start where he can stay at his parents’ home rather than live out of a hotel.
He’s made seven of 17 cuts since joining the tour last year from PGA Tour Canada, where he made two top-10 finishes including runner-up at the Saskatchewan Open in June 2023 while waiting for his PGA Tour breakthrough.
“Everyone wants to be somewhere quicker,” Howe said. “But in my first two years as a pro, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and my game has gotten a lot better.
“I think I’m playing better than I ever have. It’s a continual process of learning how to manage your own game and expectations. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of that.”
Arizona State golfer Preston Summerhays hits during the Korn Ferry Tour Utah Championship at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington on Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)Making it through Monday
Two other Utah natives joined the field via Monday qualifiers at Glen Eagle Golf Course in Syracuse.
Colorado Springs pro Cole Howard will make just his third start on the Korn Ferry Tour after carding nine birdies with an eagle en route to a 11-under 61 Monday.
That’s three shots better than Hayden Banz, the former East High and Weber State standout who had eight birdies for an 8-under 64.
Former University of Utah standout Mitchell Schow, the 2020 Utah state amateur champion from Ogden, shot 7-under 65 before surviving a nine-man playoff for the final qualifying spot.
Thursday’s tee times
Professional and amateur golfers with ties to Utah will tee off at the following times Thursday in round 1 of the Utah Championship:
Peter Kuest, 7:55 a.m., No. 1 teeKihei Akina, 9:15 a.m., No. 1 teeHayden Banz, 9:15 a.m., No. 1 teeCole Ponich, 9:15 a.m., No. 10 teeDaniel Summerhays, 1 p.m., No. 10 teePreston Summerhays, 2:20 p.m., No. 10 teeConnor Howe, 2:30 p.m., No. 1 teeMitchell Schow, 2:30 p.m., No. 10 tee
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