{"id":29333,"date":"2025-07-22T18:51:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-22T18:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/29333\/"},"modified":"2025-07-22T18:51:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T18:51:10","slug":"byus-whitney-banz-shoots-68-to-win-medalist-honors-at-womens-am-deseret-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/29333\/","title":{"rendered":"BYU’s Whitney Banz shoots 68 to win medalist honors at Women’s Am \u2013 Deseret News"},"content":{"rendered":"

There were two secrets to Whitney Banz\u2019s success<\/a> as the BYU golfer won medalist honors in the stroke-play qualifying portion of the 119th Utah Women\u2019s State Amateur at Wasatch Mountain State Park\u2019s Lake Course in Midway on Monday.<\/p>\n

First, the former West High standout hit 17 of 18 greens in regulation. That\u2019s almost perfect.<\/p>\n

Second, her caddy, who happens to be her father, \u201cwas really awesome in helping me (with) my round today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Banz fired a 4-under 68 to edge BYU teammate Berlin Long for the lowest score in the 18-hole qualifying, making five birdies and just one bogey. Long shot a 69, while six-time champion Kelsey Chugg, the defending champion<\/a>, got the third seed for match play with a 71. <\/p>\n

Natalie McLane got the No. 4 seed with a 72, while former champion Grace Summerhays and Utah Tech\u2019s Jenna Anderson tied for fifth with 73s.<\/p>\n

Last year, BYU\u2019s women\u2019s golf team was on an overseas trip to Ireland at this time, so no Cougars competed in the Women\u2019s Am at TalonsCove Golf Club. The third Cougar in the field, Aadyn Long, shot a 75 Monday to tie for eighth and easily make match play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I was super blessed today,\u201d Banz said. \u201cThe golf course is in a really good condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I prepared really well and went in with the attitude that I am going to give it my best, and went in with a lot of confidence and made some good birdie putts and didn\u2019t really have any holes that I let it get away from me, if that makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

For one of the rare times in the history of the tournament, no playoff was needed for the final few match play berths, as exactly 32 golfers shot 79 or better. Although the wind picked up in the afternoon to make conditions more difficult, the cut (+7) was a bit lower than almost everyone expected.<\/p>\n

The last three golfers to make the cut, coming in 7-over, were Hunter Gledhill, Rosie Oettli and Mikayla Jensen.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am really excited (for match play),\u201d said Banz, who made the quarterfinals four years ago at Oakridge Country Club. \u201cI just need to play my game and hit with confidence and putt with confidence. It is awesome because there are so many good golfers in Utah, so anything can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banz enjoys playing at Wasatch Mountain, where a few months ago she just missed qualifying for the Utah Men\u2019s State Amateur. She\u2019s been playing well lately as well, having placed second in the Idaho Women\u2019s Amateur last month.<\/p>\n

She also made the cut at the Provo Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to not have too many outcome expectations,\u201d she said. \u201cI just try to prepare well. I have been working really hard on and off the golf course and doing some exercises, which really help. I just came in with the attitude that I have done what I can to prepare and will give it my best shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with Summerhays and Chugg, the only other past champion in the field is Steph Belnap, sister of BYU men\u2019s golf coach Bruce Brockbank. Belnap shot a 77 and was the only senior to make match play.<\/p>\n

The two college golfers who were featured in Sunday\u2019s preview article<\/a>, Utah Tech\u2019s Jane Olson and Southern Virginia\u2019s Sydney Richards, both fired 76s to easily make match play.<\/p>\n

As the No. 1 seed, Banz will face No. 32 seed Jensen, a teacher at tiny Tabiona High School in Eastern Utah, as the Round of 32 begins Tuesday morning. Round of 16 matches will be played Tuesday afternoon, while the quarterfinals and semifinals are scheduled Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The 36-hole championship match is Thursday.<\/p>\n

Banz and Richards square off Tuesday afternoon if both advance.<\/p>\n

119th Utah Women\u2019s State Amateur<\/p>\n

At Wasatch Mountain State Park Golf Club<\/p>\n

Monday\u2019s Stroke-Play Qualifying Results<\/p>\n

68 \u2014 Whitney Banz<\/p>\n

69 \u2014 Berlin Long<\/p>\n

71 \u2014 Kelsey Chugg<\/p>\n

72 \u2014 Natalie McLane<\/p>\n

73 \u2014 Grace Summerhays, Jenna Anderson<\/p>\n

74 \u2014 Arden Louchheim<\/p>\n

75 \u2014 Siriporn Luangnam, Lily Shin, Kennedee Pearson, Morgan Thomas, Faith Vui, Aadyn Long<\/p>\n

76 \u2014 Jane Olson, Avery Kraatz, Sydney Richards<\/p>\n

77 \u2014 Reimi Bleyl, Kindra Hirasuna, Paige Anae, Mikaela Lieu, Ashley Lam, Rachel Lillywhite, Steph Belnap, Adley Nelson<\/p>\n

78 \u2014 Kate Walker, Brynnley Bischoff, Ellie Jo Olsen, Raina Rimi, Remi Rawlings<\/p>\n

79 \u2014 Hunter Gledhill, Rosie Oettli, Mikayla Jensen<\/p>\n

Did Not Make Cut<\/p>\n

80 \u2014 Lexi Leavitt, Madalyn Hadley<\/p>\n

81 \u2014 Alyssa Meadows, Isabel Wade, Stratton Durrant, Aspen Taylor<\/p>\n

82 \u2014 Riley Roberts, Taylor Bretschneider, Tongtong Wu, Claire Olafsson<\/p>\n

83 \u2014 Hayley Smith, Quinn Shupe<\/p>\n

84 \u2014 Lori Wilkinson, Libby Ward, Sharon Briggs, Molli Mulhall, Nuny Khamken, Kyra Sponenburgh<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s Round of 32 MatchesTop Bracket<\/p>\n

No. 1 Whitney Banz vs. No. 32 Mikayla Jensen, 7:30 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 16 Sydney Richards vs. No. 17 Ashley Lam, 7:39 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 8 Faith Vui vs. No. 25 Raina Rimi, 7:48 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 9 Kennedee Pearson vs. No. 24 Rachel Lillywhite, 7:57 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 4 Natalie McLane vs. No. 29 Kate Walker, 8:06 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 13 Siriporn Luangnam vs. No. 20 Paige Anae, 8:15 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 5 Grace Summerhays vs. No. 28 Ellie Jo Olsen, 8:24 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 12 Morgan Thomas vs. No. 21 Adley Nelson, 8:33 a.m.<\/p>\n

Bottom Bracket<\/p>\n

No. 2 Berlin Long vs. No. 31 Hunter Gledhill, 8:42 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 15 Jane Olson vs. No. 18 Riemi Bleyl, 8:51 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 7 Arden Louchheim vs. No. 26 Remi Rawlings, 9 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 10 Lily Shin vs. No. 23 Steph Belnap, 9:09 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 3 Kelsey Chugg vs. No. 30 Rosie Oettli, 9:18 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 14 Avery Kraatz vs. No. 19 Mikaila Lieu, 9:27 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 6 Jenna Anderson vs. No. 27 Brynnley Bischoff, 9:36 a.m.<\/p>\n

No. 11 Aadyn Long vs. No. 22 Kindra Hirasuna, 9:45 a.m.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There were two secrets to Whitney Banz\u2019s success as the BYU golfer won medalist honors in the stroke-play…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,3125,99],"class_list":["post-29333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-news-feed-local","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}