When the fireworks subside at Oakridge Country Club in Farmington, one player will stand alone as the Utah Open champion. If he's worthy, he'll never forget it.
Take the case of Tommy Williams. The 80-year-old Roy man won the Open 40 years ago at Oakridge.
"I'd been chasing it for 20 years," he said. "It was one of my goals. I consider the Utah Open the big one. Everyone does and it did change my life."
Williams fired rounds of 68, 73, 67 and 70 for a 10-under par 278 to win by one stroke over Dick Payne back in June 1969 — the summer man first walked on the moon.
It is fitting to remember Williams today. A lifelong club professional, Williams represented the Utah Section of the PGA — the group of local professionals who operate this event.
As a consummate gentleman, he is a shining example of how a golfer should play and act — with class and professionalism.
These club pros have demanding jobs that including running a course, pro shop and community programs. Most deal with touchy politics.
Unlike some professionals competing at Oakridge today, Williams didn't play golf all the time. He had actual work to do. Williams was the head professional at El Monte (1955-60); Hill Air Force Base (1961-75) and Brigham City (1976-77).
At age 40, just like older players today, Williams had to fight off younger competitors with more flexibility and power. In his bag he had Top-Flite Woods with those tiny heads, a decade-old Bullseye putter and a Trusphere Golf ball.
This was long before the massive 460 titanium head driver and engineered graphite shafts. Back then, the Titleist Pro VI golf ball hadn't even been dreamed up.
"It's made a huge difference today to have the equipment they have," said Williams, who still plays three days a week.
Four decades ago, Williams drove 55 miles in his Buick Skylark to Oakridge to play in the Open. In 1969, gas cost 55 cents a gallon. A hot dog and bag of potato chips cost $1. His winner's check was $1,000.
Today's winner will cash in $20,000.
The late sports writer Marion Dunn wrote, "Tommy Williams must have begun to think he would never win the big one. He still looks like he is in his 20s, but this year in June he turned 40. And few men of that age can go out and beat the young stars over a 72-hole grind."
After his Utah Open win, he won the Idaho Open. He competed in the U.S. Senior Open in 1981, 1983 and 1985. The Utah Senior Open is named after Williams, a lifetime member of the PGA.
His daughter, Patti, was the first caddy on the Senior PGA Tour, playing alongside Julius Boros, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Sam Snead while working her dad's bag.
"She was the best I ever had," said Williams, who remembers playing with Snead at Jeremy Ranch. Snead kept looking at what club Patti handed her dad — because of his unfamiliarity with the altitude, Snead trusted her distances.
A year ago, Williams was golfing in Park City on his birthday when he fell ill and underwent emergency abdominal surgery. About eight weeks later, he had back-to-back holes in one at Eagle Lake in Roy.
The addiction and passion for golf remains. "You always think you can do it better, but old age catches up with you and tells you that you can't," he said.
Williams still holds the record for the lowest round at Ben Lomond Golf Course, a 60 on a day he had 12 birdies and six pars.
Sunday, Williams will tune in to the 10 p.m. TV news to find out who won the Utah Open. Monday morning, he'll pick up the two newspapers he subscribes to and read all the details of the victory.
Chances are, the winner will be one of those guys who is a professional golfer — a player who seriously plies his trade full-time around the region and country.
The winner is not likely to be a Utah Section of the PGA professional, a guy who works full-time at a golf course behind the desk like Williams did.
Chances are, nobody who is over 40 will be the winner, a feat Williams accomplished 40 years ago.
In some small part of his heart, that'll strike a cord and it should.
He did it.
e-mail: dharmon@desnews.com