Usually, the only roars heard at Riverside Country Club in Provo come during football games at nearby LaVell Edwards Stadium, home of the BYU Cougars.
But one came Sunday afternoon that probably could have been heard over on campus — and it came after a shot by a former Ute, no less.
Blake Tomlinson will certainly never forget it.
“Yeah, I think everyone heard her. But yeah, it was awesome. I have a loud family, that’s for sure. But you gotta earn it, and I think I did.” — Utah Open winner Blake Tomlinson on the cheers from his mother and others when he holed out a 48-yard chip on Sunday.
The newly minted pro, who completed his eligibility at the U. last May in the NCAA Championships, holed a 48-yard approach shot for an eagle 2 on the 16th hole. That heroic shot, along with two other eagles and a slew of birdies, carried him to the 2022 Siegfried and & Jensen Utah Open title.
“I knew I put it in a good spot. That’s why I ran over to the left.” Tomlinson said. “I had the bunker a little bit in the way,” he said. “I saw it rolling and I didn’t know if it was going to get there. Everyone was telling it to go in before it went in, and I was like, ‘oh, gosh, hope it goes in,’ and when it did drop, it was an awesome moment.”
Near the clubhouse, where a group of fans had gathered around the 18th green, folks looked at each other and asked, who (produced) that? Some thought Tomlinson or perhaps Zac Blair had made an ace on the par-3 17th. But it came from the 16th, and the Tomlinson clan, in particular – several of them dressed in Ute red.
“Yeah, I think everyone heard her,” Tomlinson said of roar, nodding in the direction of his mother, Annette. “But yeah, it was awesome. I have a loud family, that’s for sure. But you gotta earn it, and I think I did.”
Tomlinson, who prepped at Skyline High, became the first former Ute golfer to win the Utah Open since Bruce Summerhays won in 2008 at Oakridge in a playoff over his nephew, Boyd Summerhays. But that came some 40 years after Bruce Summerhays played for the U., and by then he was known more for his accomplishments on the PGA Tour and PGA Champions Tour.
The only other former Utes to win it were Eric Hogg in 1991 and Billy Johnston, in 1961. Johnston and Summerhays are in the Utah Golf Hall of Fame.
“I definitely got a lot to live up to, for sure,” Tomlinson said, having not known there had only been three other past champions from the U.
Despite a bogey on the 18th hole after his approach shot struck the flag stick and bounced off the green, Tomlinson finished at 18-under 198 and won by two shots over Texas pro Jere Pelletier and Blair, the former BYU golfer and PGA Tour regular who is rehabbing before he re-joins the PGA Tour next month.
The chip-in on 16 was Tomlinson’s third eagle of the day, remarkably. He also holed out an eagle chip on No. 1, from about 40 yards out. Tomlinson, who has played a couple of events on the Canadian Tour this summer, won $20,000 for his efforts, easily his biggest check as a new pro.
He will take a couple of weeks off, then play in the Provo Open. He will attempt to qualify for the Canadian Tour again in the fall. The big check will certainly come in handy, he said.
“It has been tough, just trying to find money for tournaments, because it is obviously really expensive to travel, and entry fees and food and all that,” he said. “It is a lot more than I expected, so it didn’t get me as far as I wanted. But I mean, now I can use that money towards getting into some events and hopefully it will take me the rest of the way.”
BYU golfer Zac Jones finished as the low amateur, at 11-under 205, while Sandy’s Todd Tanner was the low section pro at 8-under. Mark Owen and Steve Schneiter tied at 2-under for low senior honors. The Utah Open’s designated charity, Utah Special Olympics, received a $50,000 check from the Utah Section PGA, which puts on the event.
But this day belonged to Tomlinson, whose caddy was former Utes teammate Kyler Dunkle.
“I mean, it’s awesome. It is ideal,” Tomlinson said. “I had my family and friends out here, and just had a lot of support. I know it is ‘down south,’ but not too far south. But yeah, it is incredible to win in my home state, my first pro win.”
After the shot on 16 gave Tomlinson a two-shot lead, Pelletier 3-putted the 18th green and the lead was at three. Tomlinson asked Dunkle to check where he stood on the leaderboard after the hole out on 16, and Dunkle told him two more pars would win.
“It is almost comfortable being uncomfortable when I am playing well,” Tomlinson said.
He entered the final round of the 54-hole event tied with former BYU golfer and 2007 and 2011 Utah Open champion Clay Ogden at 11-under. Ogden shot a 72 Sunday and tied for eighth.
Colorado’s Derek Fribbs, who fired a 23-under score last year to win the tournament — he made a double-eagle on the par-5 15th hole to get the win — tied for 11th at 10-under in a group that also included former PGA Tour regular Daniel Summerhays.
Asked to describe the hole-out on 16, the shot that will be remembered by the Tomlinson family forever, the 24-year-old said he just did what his caddy suggested.
I knew I wanted to get something really close, because I knew it was a back pin and I could bounce one up there,” he said. “I hit a really good drive, and then I had about 48 yards to the flag. We picked a really good landing spot, and it trickled into the hole. … I was lucky, and it gave me a really big boost of confidence.”
And a big check — which could ensure even more roars from the Tomlinsons in the future.