The Readers' Golf Survey, which was introduced in this column nearly two months ago, had some predictible results in the findings published in Monday's Deseret News.
You could have probably guessed that Park Meadows would be the toughest course, that Johnny Miller would be named favorite golfer and Titleist the favored brand of ball.But what was most interesting were all the surprises found among the responses from golfers.
Who would have guesed that unheralded Hobble Creek in Springville would beat out the rest of the state's fine courses as favorite golf course?
And can you believe that more than half the respondents would acknowledge low prices as one of the best things about golf in Utah? While 52 percent of the respondents mentioned low fees as a positive, only 4 percent said fees were too high.
Here are a few other surprising results from the survey:
- Top courses such as Moab, Wolf Creek (Eden) and Birch Creek (Smithfield) hardly received a mention in any of the categories.
- Arnold Palmer, the king of golf, didn't even crack the top five on the favorite golfer list.
- Except for Miller, other Utah-connected golfers, such as Mike Reid, Keith Clearwater, Dan Forsman and Jay Don Blake, received very few votes in the favorite golfer category.
- A large number of golfers are familiar with the relatively new courses in St. George, Sunbrook and Green Spring. The top three vote-getters for best holes were Sunbrook's No. 13 and Green Spring's 5th and 6th holes.
ADD SURVEY: Also enlightening from the survey were some of the comments about people who work at our local courses.
Some specific pros or staffs were singled out as "friendly" and "helpful." But it sounds like more courses need to work on thier public relations. Without mentioning the courses by name, here are a few of the responses under the category "worst thing about golf in Utah."
"Assistant pros with attitude . . . Way too snobby staff . . . Rudeness of pro shop staff . . . Rude and unfriendly counter help . . . Pros who are not into the customer service part of the golf business . . . Arrogance of young pros who could care less about seniors . . . There are too many grouchy starters."
I'm sure golf pros can tell plenty of stories about rude and insensitive golfers. But some need to remember not to take their customers for granted and treat them nicer.
STATE AM NEARS: The tournament that bills itself as the longest continuous running tournament in the country (96 years) gets under way Wednesday when the Utah Men's State Amateur is played at Ogden Country Club.
Brett Wayment, who just completed his collegiate career at Utah State, is back to defend his title on a course he played as a youngster with his grandparents. It will be one of his final amateur events because he plans to turn professional later this summer.
Last year's runner-up and 1992 champion Brad Sutterfield already turned pro at last month's Provo Open and won't be on hand. Plenty of top contenders will be playing, however, including two-time champ Doug Bybee, Todd Barker, Kurt Bosen, Mark Domm, Jeff Hale, Joseph Summerhays, David Summerhays and 15-year-old sensation Boyd Summerhays.
The original 650-golfer field has been reduced to 161 golfers through qualifyings and by Thursday evening just 32 golfers will be left for the match-play tournament. By Saturday evening two golfers will be alive to battle in Sunday's 36-hole finale.
STRAY SHOTS: The 30th annual Southern Utah Amateur will be played this Saturday and Sunday at Canyon Breeze in Beaver. Many State Am golfers who don't make match play will rush down to Beaver for the tournament, which is a social happening for the weekend. Besides the 36-hole tournament proper, there is a golf-till-you-drop marathon Friday for the practice round and a derby after Saturday's round . . . Tomorrow is the only Sunday all summer without an official tournament scheduled in the state . . . The deadline for the Cactus Pete's Idaho Open is July 15. Sandy's Steve Schneiter is the defending champion and American Fork's Kim Thompson won in 1992 . . . Salt Lake City Amateur champ Mark Domm is the Governor's Cup leader with 3,470 points, followed by Eric Rustand, Larry Williams, Joseph Summerhays and Jeff Hale.