The golfers fought back in Tuesday’s second round of the Utah Men’s State Amateur.
A day earlier only one golfer was able to shoot under par, but 13 players shot par or better at the challenging Salt Lake Country Club golf course.
Peter Kim led the way with a 4-under-par 67 to take medalist honors with a 140 total by one shot over first-day leader Davis Johnson, who shot 73 after a 68 on Monday. Defending champion Zac Jones was another shot back at 142, while Oscar Maxfield came in at 143.
Now the tournament turns to match play for the next four days until a champion is crowned with a 36-hole final on Saturday. Sixty-two golfers qualified after two rounds and eight golfers will battle for the final two spots Wednesday morning to complete the 64-golfer bracket.
For Kim, it was another feather in his cap after being the lowest golfer in the US Open qualifier last month. The 18-year-old recently graduated from Skyline High School and will enroll at BYU in the fall and play golf for the Cougars.
“I played really well today,” said Kim. “The conditions were really tough out there — the greens were getting super firm. I hit my approach shots closer today, gave myself more looks and made a few of them.”
Johnson, a 20-year-old University of Utah golfer from Arizona, appeared to be on his way to earning medalist honors as he stayed at even-par for most of the day. However, at the par-5 17th, his second shot got caught in what he called a “weird spot” on the edge of a bunker and he ended up taking a bogey. Then he bogeyed the final hole and came up one short of Kim.
Kim’s two-day total of 140 is the highest medalist score since Brad Sutterfield’s 141 total at the 1992 State Amateur at Hidden Valley CC.
That’s one indication of how tough the SLCC course is playing this week.
The cutline of 157 tied the highest in history, which is a bit deceiving because the match play field was increased from 32 to 64 in 2013, making for a higher cutline. However, if it was a 32-player bracket, the cut would have been 152, which would still have been one of the higher numbers.
The best round of the day was turned in by Braxton Watts, a University of Utah junior from Farmington. After shooting a 9-over-par 80 on Monday, Watts had eight birdies on his card en route to a 5-under-par 66. That vaulted him into a tie for eighth place in the stroke play standings.
Among the golfers who qualified for match play were former champions Martin Leon (147), Darrin Overson (149), Jordan Rodgers (151) and Dan Horner (153). Two former champions who just missed the cut were Gregg Oliphant (158) and Jon Wright (159).
The tournament had finished just before dark on Monday and despite a 57-minute lightning delay, the golfers were all able to finish on Tuesday night.
The eight golfers who will compete for the final two spots Wednesday morning are Bob Mitchell, Gavin Campbell, Peter Ouimette, Brandon Hargett, Ryan Powers, David Jennings, Brendan Dennis and Eli Rogers.
Second round scores
140 — Peter Kim (73-67)
141 — Davis Johnson (68-73)
142 — Zac Jones (72-70)
143 — Oscar Maxfield (73-70)
145 — Simon Kwon (77-68), Cameron Crawford (74-71), Hayden Banz (76-69)
146 — Cooper Jones (73-73), Elijah Turner (75-71), Braxton Watts (80-66)
147 — Martin Leon (76-71), Elliot Bond (75-72), Tanner Telford (76-71), Steele DeWald (77-70)
148 — Brandon Robison (76-72), Justin Shluker (73-75), David Liechty (72-76), Lance Smith (75-73), Brendon Thomas (76-72), Bowen Mauss (75-73), Sean Lampropoulos (78-70)
149 — Aidan Thain (77-72), Darrin Overson (76-73), Yinxuan Wu (74-75), Jesper von Reedtz (76-73)
150 — Peyton Hastings (73-77), Devin Tovey (73-77), Tyler Demasi (77-73)
151 — Steven Croft (78-73), Tyson Lund (76-75), Jordan Rodgers (78-73)
152 — Josh Howe (75-77), Reed Nielsen (76-76), Rand Sargent (80-72), Rashon Williams (76-76), Andrew Cottle (72-80), Kenny Palmer (78-74), Jeremy Hymas (78-74), Parker Bunn (77-75), Keanu Akina (82-70)
153 — Dan Horner (77-76), Lincoln Markham (77-76), Ryan Barber (77-76), Leo Torres (76-77), Michael Blackham (81-72)
154 — Caysen Wright (80-74), Brennan Coburn (77-77), John Cook (76-78), Jake Griffin (77-77), Charlie Taylor (78-76)
155 — Brigham Gibbs (74-81), Thomas Young (79-76), Luke Crapo (82-73), Tyler Jones (79-76), Will Blanchard (78-77)
156 — Ryker Dunkley (78-78), Tate McVey (77-79), Gavin Dosch (80-76), Jack Kuemmel (79-77), Ryan Brimley (80-76), Zach Felts (82-74), Noah Moody (81-75)
157 — Bob Mitchell (79-78), Gavin Campbell (79-78), Peter Ouimette (79-78), Brandon Hargett (77-80), Ryan Powers (79-78), David Jennings (80-77), Brendan Dennis (84-73), Eli Rogers (76-81)