Back in the summer of 1899, a handful of golfers got together at the Gilmer Park Golf Course in Salt Lake City to compete in the first "state championship" of golf in Utah.
There was no newspaper coverage, no TV cameras, of course, and little fanfare. About all that is known of the tournament is that a Robert B. Harkness emerged as the winner. There isn't even any record of whom he defeated in the final.Little did anyone know at the time that this unpretentious golf tournament would still be going strong a century later with the tag of "the longest continuous golf tournament in America."
Wait a minute. Make that "longest continuous golf tournament in the world."
Recently when David Fay, the executive director of the U.S. Golf Association was told that the Utah Amateur was the longest continuous golf tournament in the country, he scoffed as many folks do. "I'll check that out," he told officials from Utah.
After checking it out, Fay had some news for the Utahns. He informed them that the Utah State Amateur was not only the longest continuously held tournament in America but in the world.
What about the U.S. Open, you ask, which celebrated its centennial three years ago? It is not a continuous tournament because it was suspended for two years during World War I and four years during World War II. The same thing is true of the British Open, which began in 1871, but wasn't played during the wars. Because it wasn't a national tournament, the Utah Amateur was able to keep chugging along during those world conflicts.
Bruce Summerhays, the 1966 State Am champion, who has won $2.4 million on the PGA Senior Tour the past four years, still talks about the State Am as he travels around the country.
"I tell people all the time how it's the oldest (continuous) tournament in the country. They can't believe me that little ol' Utah has the oldest tournament."
This week the old tournament is celebrating its centennial at Riverside Country Club in Provo. Some 144 golfers have qualified for this year's prestigious tourney, which will turn to match play for 32 golfers on Friday and by Sunday will have just two golfers left for a 36-hole final. In all but four years, the State Amateur has been match play, a format rarely used in golf these days.
In the early years, the State Am was mostly played at the Salt Lake Country Club, which is now the Forest Dale Golf Course and one of the only golf courses in Utah in the early 1900s.
Back then, champions were known by their initials, and it was common for golfers to win multiple titles. J.W. Thompson won it twice, F.E. McGurrin won four times, R.W. Salisbury won four times and A.W. Copp won three times. Interestingly, Copp's name is engraved on the large traveling trophy as "Coop," and only recent research revealed the correct spelling of his name.
By 1923 when the tournament moved to the site of the current Salt Lake Country Club, the field had more than doubled to 94 participants. Hal Lamb, who was inducted into the Utah Golf Hall of Fame earlier this year, won five State Am titles between 1915 and 1924 and might have won many more if he hadn't died of a ruptured appendix in 1925.
George Von Elm made it to the State Am semifinals in 1916 as a 14-year-old and went on to win it the next year and again in 1920 and 1921. Of course, Von Elm became Utah's premier golf hero by defeating the legendary Bobby Jones in the final of the 1926 U.S. Amateur as well as playing on several Walker Cup teams and winning numerous tournaments around the country.
In the 1930s, Ed Kingsley dominated, winning four straight years, so easily that he quit competing in the State Am and retired with a perfect 17-0 match-play record at the age of 23.
The 1940s were dominated by Billy Korns, who won a record six titles between 1941 and 1951. It's a record Korns figures never will be broken simply because so many good players turn pro by the time they are in their mid-20s. The 76-year-old Korns, who lives in Provo, said he never dreamed about setting a record that may never be broken.
"I never once thought at the time I was playing for records. The State Amateur was the biggest tournament in those days, like it is today, and we were just thankful for the chance to compete."
In the 1950s, Lou North won three State Am titles and the Hiskey brothers from Pocatello won three titles as Sonny won in 1952, Jimmy in 1955 and Babe, who later went on to play the PGA Tour, won in 1962.
The State Am briefly went to stroke play in the 1960s, and Jack Ridd won back-to-back titles. In 1966, Summerhays defeated Ridd's son, Craig, who came back to win the following year. The Ridds are the only father-son combination to win State Am titles.
BYU golfers won four of five titles from 1969 to 1973 as Jack Chapman, Ray Leach, Rusty Guernsey and Jimmy Blair all took the crown.
Don Branca, Arlen Peacock and Mitch Hyer all won two titles during the 1970s.
In the early 1980s, 18-year-old golfers Eric Hogg, Steve Schneiter and Mark Davis all won and Bruce Brockkbank captured back-to-back titles and finished second twice.
Brockbank, the current BYU golf coach, compiled one of the finest records in State Am history, going 19-3 over a six-year period from 1983-88.
"That was the one event I always geared up for," said Brockbank. "It was a `major' in Utah golf. I look back on the State Amateur with great memories." Hogg, who has the longest stretch between individual wins (1981 and 1989), has won the Utah Open and several other tournaments as a professional. But ask him what the toughest is and he'll tell you it's the State Am.
"It's by far the most difficult tournament to win," said Hogg. "It's a grind physically and mentally, and you have to have some luck, too. The State Amateur is really a special tournament."
The 1990s have been dominated by Doug Bybee, who broke through to win in 1990 after losing twice in the finals in the early '80s and added titles in 1991 and 1996. Todd Barker, one of the top amateurs for a couple of decades, finally won a State Am title in 1997 at the age of 43.
To a man, former champions will tell you how important the State Amateur was in their lives.
"It's a huge deal," says Summerhays, who may end up as the most prominent of State Am champions. "I'm thrilled to have my name on that trophy with all those great players. It's a wonderful tournament. The State Amateur is something I can always point to as developing my game more than anything."