Fresh off his second-place finish at the Atlanta Classic a day earlier, Jay Don Blake was in town Monday night to speak at the first annual All-State golf banquet at the University Park Hotel.
The banquet, sponsored by Smith's Food King, honored the top golfers in high school golf for 1991-92.Blake, who was a two-time prep champion for Dixie High School in the mid-1970s, told the audience how it was still unbelievable to him that he is out on the PGA Tour picking up checks for $108,000 (which he received for 2nd place at Atlanta). He gave credit to being able to play junior golf in Utah when he was younger.
"I don't think I'd be where I am if that hadn't been provided for me," he said. "I know how important it was for me."
He also advised the high schoolers not to necessarily look at the biggest schools when deciding on a college career.
"I felt like Utah State was a good choice for me," he said. "I was able to play a lot and be successful. If I had gone to a big school like BYU, I might not have played much and been able to see what my potential was."
Blake related many experiences, such as how he came from behind to win the NCAA championship in 1980 and what it was like playing with Jack Nicklaus for the first time on the PGA Tour (he went 7-over the first four holes before Nicklaus settled him down enough that he eventually beat Nicklaus on the day).
Later Blake passed out the awards to each of the honorees and posed in pictures with each of them.
The 4A golfers included Darren Tanner, Bingham; Greg Oliphant, Cottonwood; Chris Riding, West Jordan; Jon Morgan, Skyline; Tyler Monsen, Timpview; Dustin Dehlin, Bingham; Jono Gardner, Viewmont; and Rhett Rhees, Orem.
3A all-staters were Anthony Prince, Ogden; Shaun Jepson, Woods Cross; Mitch Harris, Logan; Ryan Johnson, Cedar City; Dan Putnam, Pineview; Justin Burt, Box Elder; Brett Miller, Springville; and Shad Thomas, Springville.
The 2A-1A golfers were Ryan Oldroyd, Richfield; Clint Christensen, Park City; Jason White, Grand; Jason Penney, Grantsville; Brian Emerson, Wendover; Eric Francis, Park City; Mike Player, South Sevier; Tyler Dennis, Rowland Hall; and Cris Spencer, Morgan.
As of Monday night, Blake was still undecided about playing in the Byron Nelson tournament in Dallas this week, although he was leaning toward it.
"I feel like I've been playing too much and I've got to pace myself," he said. "But coming in second gives me confidence so I think I should go right back out there and play again."