Keeping 121-year streak going, Utah Amateur is underway
September 1, 2020 | by Chris Brauner of AmateurGolf.com
see also: View results for Utah State Amateur, Soldier Hollow Golf Club
The Spanish flu epidemic and two world wars didn't stop the oldest continuous tournament in the world, held every year since 1899
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, we wrote about the Utah Golf Association and it's determined executive director Jake Miller.
At the time, Miller said he would hold the tournament in December if required to keep the 121-year streak going. After all, it's the oldest continually-held tournament in the world. As it turns out, the storied golf association didn't have to hold out for winter and the tournament starts today. We will be following it all week.
Here's a repost of our coverage of the Utah Golf Association's decision process:
The Utah State Amateur Championship was first played in 1899 and has been played every year since, earning the title of the oldest continuous tournament in the world.
The Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-19 couldn't interrupt the the championship; neither could World War I or World War II. But could the tournament, and the 121-year streak, be in jeopardy due to the coronavirus pandemic?
Not if Jake Miller, the executive director of the Utah Golf Association (UGA), has his way.
"I refuse to go down as the executive director that allowed us to lose the moniker of the longest continuously held tournament in the world," said Miller to Dana Greene of ABC4 Sports in Murray, Utah. "So if it's the week after Christmas in St. George where we’re running this thing, we’ll do it."
The 122nd Utah State Amateur is scheduled for June 22-27, and although the UGA has suspended all activities through the end of April, the championship and its various qualifiers are, for now, still on as scheduled.
But one of the big lessons of the current pandemic is that the best laid plans can suddenly be tossed up in the air.
But Miller, bearing the weight of history and the determination to maintain the streak, is confident that Utah will find a way to conduct the championship in 2020.
From Greene's report (which includes a video interview with Miller):
"If you look around the state, the professionals around the state, so many of them played in this event when they were in college or high school and it holds a special place in a lot of golf professional’s hearts," Miller said. "So we expect that if worst comes to worst and we don’t have some of the opportunities that are set up currently, that there will be plenty of PGA pros and facilities around the state that would be willing to step up and make sure that the Utah State Amateur happens this year. The State Am may not look like it normally looks like in 2020 but we will be playing golf and somebody will hoist the trophy."
When the championship is played, reigning U.S. Junior champion Preston Summerhays will be gunning for his third straight state championship.
Results: Utah State Amateur
| Place | Player | Location | Pts | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Ogden, UT | 200 | ||
| Runner-up | Salt Lake City, UT | 100 | ||
| Semifinals | St. George, UT | 50 | ||
| Semifinals | Palm Desert, CA | 50 | ||
| Medalist | Ogden, UT | 25 |
About the Utah State Amateur
Those who qualify, along with the exempt players, will advance to a 36-hole qualifying. The low 64 qualifiers will advance into match play. There will be one round of match play on Wednesday, two rounds of match play on Thursday and Friday, and a 36-...
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