The Utah Open golf tournament was first played back in 1926 when a guy named Eddie Morrison captured the inaugural title. Except for one year, 1964, the tournament has been played ever since.
It's had its ups and downs, however, over the years, and after a few "down" years, the tourney is on the upswing this year with an increased purse and an emphasis on Utah golfers.
The tournament, sponsored by the Siegfried and Jensen law firm, will be played Friday through Sunday at Alpine Country Club, with a whole week's worth of activities scheduled.
"We're trying to get the Utah Open up to what it once was," said Devin Dehlin of the Utah Section PGA. "It used to be kind of a mini-tour event, but we decided we waned to take the event over and make it more of a local event for local professionals and amateurs."
Starting in the early 1980s and into the late 1990s, the Utah Open always had a purse of at least $100,000 and a first prize of at least $20,000. Over the years, several players who went on to become regulars on the PGA Tour, such as Neal Lancaster, Grant Waite and Dennis Paulson, won the Utah Open.
But sponsorship problems in 1999 nearly meant the demise of the Utah Open, and the Utah Section took over a scaled-back version of the event. Last year the purse was only $50,000, with champion Boyd Summerhays earning just $5,000, the lowest first-place amount in more than 20 years.
Now, thanks to new sponsorship commitments, the purse is back up to $75,000, with the winner to receive $12,500. The purse is expected to rise even more next year.
The bulk of the 156-player field will be Utahns, with approximately 90 local pros from the Utah Section as well as approximately 20 amateurs. Also, former champions as well as state open champions from the area will be eligible to play. The rest of the field will be filled from a Monday qualifying at The Ranches Golf Club in nearby Eagle Mountain.
Pro-ams will be played Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday with a Special Olympics Short Game Challenge on Tuesday.
SENIOR UPDATE: Something is definitely missing this month in Utah golf.
For the first time in more than 20 years, the PGA Senior Tour (now called Champions Tour) is not making a stop in Utah.
Several players at last week's Champions Challenge, most notably Jack Nicklaus and Dave Stockton, lamented the demise of the popular senior stop in Park City. Stockton even holds out hope that the event may return someday.
For those who still have an interest in the seniors but may have lost contact this year, here's a quick update:
Bruce Lietzke, who played one of his first-ever senior events two years ago at Park Meadows, is the leading money-winner on the Champions Tour, followed by Tom Watson, Allen Doyle and all-time Champions Tour money-winner Hale Irwin.
Local favorite Bruce Summerhays has had a miserable year, for him, except for his third-place finish at the Senior British Open. He was as low as 60th on the money list but has bounced back up to 43rd.
Morris (The Cat) Hatalsky, who breezed to victory last year in the Modified Stableford scoring format, is having a good year, ranking 17th on the money list. If he had the chance to defend his title, he'd definitely be one of the favorites.
As for rookies, we're not missing much there. Craig Stadler is the biggest name who's doing well, and we saw him a few days ago at Thanksgiving Point. Ben Crenshaw, who many expected to be a star on the senior circuit, has found the going tough as he ranks clear down at No. 81 on the money list, despite playing in 13 events this year. His best finish was a tie for 20th at Bruno's, and he missed the cut at both the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA.
STRAY SHOTS: A pair of Nicks who play for the University of Utah golf team will represent Utah at the U.S. Amateur later this month. Nick Summers, who went to Mountain Crest High School, won the qualifying last week at Alpine CC, while Nick Micek, who went to Alta High, grabbed the second spot in a playoff. Pete Stone, who represented Utah at the Pacific Coast Amateur last week, lost in a playoff for a spot in the U.S. Am in an Idaho qualifier last month . . . The Cedar Hills Golf Club, located at the mouth of American Fork Canyon, is now open for tee times at 796-1705 . . . Boyd Summerhays, who will be defending his title at the Utah Open this week, missed the cut at the Nationwide Omaha Classic Friday by one shot after shooting rounds of 71 and 69.
E-mail: sor@desnews.com