LAYTON — The 105th Utah Women's State Amateur gets underway today at Valley View Golf Course.
Fifty-two golfers will play two days of medal play, attempting to get into the 16-golfer match play which begins Wednesday and concludes Thursday afternoon.
Last year's champion, Natalie Stone, will not be playing but several top players are in the field, including former champions Lachell Poffenberger and Sue Nyhus, along with Kelsey Chugg, Kelsey Adams, Sadie Palmer, Jessica Thomas, Selu Fotu, Emily Copier, Jenteal Jackson, Tara Green, Tori Fishburn, Amanda Snyder, Annika Afoa and Amanda Keith.
HITTING THEM WELL: BYU golfer Zac Blair is having quite a summer. The 20-year-old Ogden native, who won the Utah State Amateur in 2009, won a prestigious amateur tournament over the weekend, a week after finishing second in another big event.
Blair, who will be a junior at BYU this fall, won the Pacific Northwest Men's Amateur Championship defeating Tyler Raber of El Macero, Calif., 5 & 4 in the finals at the Tetherow Golf Club in Bend Oregon.
A week earlier, Blair finished second at the Sahalee Players Championship in Sammamish, Wash., one shot behind winner Chris Williams.
Blair came in as the 36th seed in the Pacific Northwest tournament and had to win five matches to get to the 36-hole final. In the final match, he trailed for only one hole, the first, and he moved ahead for good with a 12-foot birdie putt at No. 9. After 18 holes, Blair had a 4 up advantage which he increased to 8 up after winning four of six holes in the afternoon. Raber had a late flurry to cut into Blair's lead, but Blair closed out the match at the 32nd hole.
Despite playing 13 championship rounds of golf in nine days, Blair has a busy schedule ahead. He flew out to Colorado Sunday for the Colorado Open, where he'll play this week. Then next week he is scheduled to play at the Pacific Coast Amateur at Truckee, Calif.
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