FARMINGTON — Most years it’s the young guys, the teenagers and college players in their early 20s who dominate at the Utah State Men’s Amateur golf tournament every year.
The young kids are at it again this year in the 120th edition of the State Am at Oakridge Country Club, but the old guys are holding their own.
Three golfers in their 40s have advanced to the final eight of the State Amateur and will play quarterfinal matches Friday morning. They include two former champions, 43-year-old Darrin Overson and 40-year-old Dan Horner, as well as 46-year-old John Owen.
They’ll be joined by teenagers Blake Tomlinson, Jayce Frampton and Preston Summerhays and collegiate golfers Andy Hess and Kyler Dunkle in the quarterfinals. Winners Friday morning will play semifinal matches with the two-afternoon winners coming back for Saturday’s 36-final.
Tomlinson and Owen face off at 7:30 a.m. followed by Dunkle and Overson. Then Summerhays and Hess will play at 7:50 with Frampton and Horner going off at 8.
“I’ve been hearing that for 10 years now,” said Overson, about being one of the older amateurs in the tournament. “I’m getting old, for sure, but I don’t feel it’s over. I’m doing my best to stay relevant here in Utah.”
Overson, who works in health insurance, says he’s in the best shape in years as he has lost 28 pounds since the start of the year.
“I’ve been trying to get in shape and I feel good physically,” he said.
Overson won the State Am 20 years ago at Riverside Country Club when he was a 23-year-old Colorado State student. He’s done well over the years in State Am play, making the semifinals twice and advancing to the finals in 2015 when he lost to Jordan Rodgers.
“I feel like I’ve had a good State Am career,” he said.
Overson has won his three matches comfortably, each by 4 and 3 margins. He started off with a win over Cameron Tucker on Wednesday, then came back to defeat Kurt Owen Thursday morning and Southern Utah golfer Fidel Concepcion in the afternoon.
I’m getting old, for sure, but I don’t feel it’s over. I’m doing my best to stay relevant here in Utah. – Darrin Overson
John Owen, no relation to Kurt, but a younger brother to local pro Mark Owen, has also won his matches rather comfortably. He started off with a 3 and 2 win over former champion Brad Sutterfield and then beat Luke Crapo 5 and 4 Thursday morning and Zack Neff 4 and 3 in the afternoon.
Owen acknowledges he can’t keep up with the younger players in the distance but that he'll try to make up for it elsewhere.
“I can’t keep up, they hit the ball so far,” he said. “There’s different ways to make birdies and I try to hit fairways and get good position on the greens.”
Horner, a New Jersey native who won the State Amateur 10 years ago, beat Weber State golfer Boston Watts 4 and 2 Thursday morning, then came back to edge Southern Utah golfer Austin Jaramillo 1 up in the afternoon.
One of the more interesting matches Thursday afternoon was between Summerhays and Tyler Savage. The two are second cousins as Summerhays is the son of Boyd Summerhays and grandson of Lynn Summerhays while Savage is the grandson of Bruce Summerhays and son of Bruce’s oldest daughter Shelly.
The two are nearly a decade apart in age and had not played with each other before. The 15-year-old Summerhays, who lives in Arizona most of the year, took control of the match early against the 24-year-old Savage and closed out the match at hole 14.
“I really want to win this,” said Summerhays who is trying to match legendary George Von Elm, who won the State Amateur in 1917 at the age of 15 and top his uncle, Daniel, who won the State Am at Oakridge in 2000 at age 16.
He’ll play Hess, who led Riley Morgan all afternoon before losing three straight holes at 15,16, and 17 to fall behind. However, he came back to win No. 18 as well as the first playoff hole when Morgan’s drive went left off the tee and the ball was never found.
Frampton is a 19-year-old who played high school golf at Viewmont and now plays for Dixie State. He defeated Utah Valley’s Aaron Yeates, who had knocked off defending champion Kelton Hirsch in a morning match.
Tomlinson, who just completed his freshman season at the University of Utah, set the all-time State Am scoring record for medal play with a pair of 64s earlier in the week. He beat Rand Sargent 2 and 1 in the morning and came back to defeat Tyler Herzog 4 and 3 in the afternoon.
Dunkle is another U. of U. golfer, a native of Colorado, who will be a senior this fall. After handily beating last year’s runnerup Braydon Swapp in the first round, he beat Greg Law 3 and 2 before edging Jake Godfrey 2 and 1.
MEN’S STATE AMATEUR
Oakridge Country Club
Second round results
Blake Tomlinson def. Rand Sargent 2 & 1
Tyler Herzog def. David Jennings 4 & 3
Zack Neff def. Kenny You 2 & 1
John Owen def. Luke Crapo 1 up
Kyler Dunkle def. Greg Law 3 & 2
Jake Godfrey def. Jeff Jolley, 19 holes
Fidel Concepcion def. Cody Anderson, 19 holes
Darrin Overson def. Kurt Owen 4 & 3
Andy Hess def. Jack Sargent 4 & 3
Riley Morgan def. Denny Job, 19 holes
Tyler Savage def. Jake Vincent 1 up
Preston Summerhays def. Jacob Wagstaff 3 & 1
Jayce Frampton def. Chandler Thompson 1 up
Aaron Yeates def. Kelton Hirsch 3 & 2
Austin Jaramillo def. Triston Gardner 1 up
Dan Horner def. Boston Watts 4 & 2
Third round results
Tomlinson def. Herzog 4 & 3
Owen def. Neff 4 & 3
Dunkle def. Godfrey 2 & 1
Overson def. Concepcion 4 & 3
Hess def. Morgan 19 holes
Summerhays def. Savage 6 & 4
Frampton def. Yeates 3 & 2
Horner def. Austin Jaramillo 1 up
Friday’s matches
Quarterfinals
7:30 a.m. -- Blake Tomlinson vs. John Owen
7:40 a.m. -- Kyler Dunkle vs. Darrin Overson
7:50 a.m. -- Andy Hess vs. Preston Summerhays
8:00 a.m -- Jayce Frampton vs. Dan Horner
Semifinals
12:20 p.m. – Tomlinson-Owen winner vs. Dunkle-Overson winner
12:30 p.m. – Hess-Summerhays winner vs. Frampton-Horner winner