Every golf course has one, whether it knows it or not.
We're talking course records — the lowest scores ever compiled for 9 or 18 holes on the 100-plus courses in Utah.
Some course records are posted prominently on the wall of the pro shop, sometimes with the original signed card. Others are not known, even to the golfer who might have shot it.
We first surveyed golf courses back in 1988 to find out the best scores ever shot at the many courses across the state. Those scores were put into the Utah Book of Golf, which is produced every year by the Utah Section PGA. While some records are updated from year to year, others aren't.
For instance, if you want to know the record at Willow Creek Country Club, it says Milan Swilor owns it with a 63. Yes, Swilor did shoot a 63 in 1990, but he also shot a 61 at the 1992 Utah Open, what is arguably the best course record in the state. And that 61 was matched in 1996 by Californian Patrick Boyd, also in the Utah Open.
Most of the golf courses we surveyed were aware of the course record, but some didn't know and a few didn't care. Some courses like Cascade in Orem haven't established a new record since remodeling.
The kings of course records are Swilor, St. George product Jay Don Blake and Ogden's Jimmy Blair, who each have a half dozen marks. Sandy's Steve Schneiter has five records, while Logan's Brett Wayment, Salt Lake's Eric Hogg and Wingpointe pro Lynn Landgren each own four marks. Twenty-five golfers own more than one record.
When asked about the key to making so many records, Blair laughed and said, "I guess when you play as much as we do, sooner or later you get a good round."
There is a bit of inconsistency in some of the records. For example, some nine-hole courses list a nine-hole score, while others list an 18-hole score, and some do both. And while we assume that most of the records are correct, as one golf pro said, "No one's going to put me in jail if it's wrong." In some instances, our research has shown some of the records are wrong.
The top records are listed on this page. The 61s by Swilor and Boyd are two of the most impressive, along with the 62 Blake shot at Riverside in 1980. There are a few records in the 50s, with Roy Christensen's 13-under 59 at Spanish Oaks and Wayment's 14-under non-competitive 57 at Logan Country Club among the most notable.
Ironically, the highest course record belongs to the best player in the state, PGA Tour star Mike Weir. He shot a 69 at the two-year-old Promontory Golf Course near Park City. But he did it from "the tips," which measure just under 7,700 yards with a course rating of 75.6.
The youngest record-holder is 13-year-old Gipper Finau, who shot a 26 at the par-33 Central Valley Golf Course. Another teenager, 17-year-old Canadian Peter Ahn, set the course record at Glenwild earlier this summer with a 67.
One of the oldest records could be a 59 at El Monte in the 1930s by John Geertsen Sr. But that record couldn't be confirmed, so for now, the El Monte record listed is the nine-hole 28 that Mitch Hyer shot in 1980.
The oldest record on our list is the 65 shot by Ellsworth Vines at Meadow Brook where he won the Utah Open in 1955.
E-mail: sor@desnews.com