PROVO — It could have been an exciting final day at the Siegfried & Jensen Utah Open where 10 golfers were bunched within two shots of each other late in the final round of the 54-hole tournament.
Except by that point one golfer had already run and hid from everyone else, being eight shots up on the field at that point Sunday afternoon at RIverside Country Club.
In the end, Peter Kuest ended up winning by a whopping seven shots after his final round 67 gave the former BYU golfer a three-day total of 23-under-par 193. Kavan Eubank, a 24-year-old pro from Idaho finished second at 200, while local amateurs Hayden Christensen and Kelton Hirsch tied for third overall with former champion Zahkai Brown at 202.
“It was a grind today, but it was a lot of fun,” Kuest said. “I got my first college win here and to get my first professional win here, it’s really sweet to do this.”
For Kuest, who turned professional earlier this spring and has already played in five PGA Tour tournaments, it was almost a foregone conclusion that he would emerge as the winner of the $15,000 first-place check after he posted rounds of 63 and 64 in the first two rounds to take a five-shot lead over Riverside teaching pro Matt Baird.
Although he admitted to being nervous on the first tee, he birdied the hole and was off and running, adding birdies at 5, 7 and 8 to go to 21-under for the tournament. At that point he was seven shots up on Christensen, who played the first seven holes in seven-under and the only question was whether he would match or break the record of 26-under set by Kuest’s former BYU teammate Patrick Fishburn three years earlier.
Kuest had played holes 13 through 16 in 5-under-par each of the previous two days and if he’d done the same and added another birdie, he would have beaten the record, bested his two previous rounds and tied the competitive course record. However he was only able to get birdies at 13, 15 and 16 and made his only bogey of the day when he hit the bunker at 17.
“It would have been sweet to get the record but a win’s good enough,” Kuest said.
Christensen, a 27-year-old former Dixie State from St. George, got off to a red-hot start with five birdies and an eagle at No. 5 after seven holes. He said later the idea of a 59 crossed his mind after the first 29 of his life on the front nine, but his only bogey of the day at No. 11, “brought me back to earth” and he finished with a 7-under 65.
Christensen, who won a playoff with Hirsch for low amateur honors, plans to turn professional after the State Amateur next month.
Brown, the 2016 champion, rallied with four birdies on the last five holes to tie for third, his sixth top-10 finish at the Utah Open since 2013.
Arizona pro Blake Cannon was sixth at 203, while four golfers, Baird, Neil Johnson, Eric McCardle and University of Utah golfer Mitchell Schow tied at 205. Defending champion Sam Saunders and 2010 champion Nick Mason tied at 206.
Kuest doesn’t know what his next tournament will be, but he’s hoping to get into more PGA Tour events this fall on sponsor’s exemptions. The Utah Open title won’t hurt his resume.
“If I have to come back and defend my title, so be it, but I’m hoping to be on the PGA Tour next year,” he said.
UTAH OPEN FINAL RESULTS
Peter Kuest 63-64-66—193
Kavan Eubank 67-68-65—200
a-Hayden Christesnen 69-68-65—202
a-Kelton Hirsch 68-67-67—202
Zahkai Brown 67-67-68—202
Blake Cannon 67-69-67—203
Eric McCardle 66-71-68—205
a-Mitchell Schow 69-67-69—205
Neil Johnson 67-68-70—205
Matt Baird 66-66-73—205
Sam Saunders 71-70-65—206
Nick Mason 70-69-67—206
Isaac Merry 66-74-67—207
Jere Pelletier 70-72-66—208
a-Preston Summerhays 68-73-67—208
TK Kim 71-69-69—209
Edward Olson 69-69-71—209
a-Tyson Shelley 69-69-71—209
Joe Summerhays 68-69-72—209
Craig Hocknull 65-69-75—209
Chris Moody 70-70-70—210
Phillip Reedy 67-71-72—210
Matt Snyder 72-71-68—211
Joseph Harrison 69-73-69—211
Luke Vivilo 68-73-70—211
Derek Fribbs 68-72-71—211
Drew McCullough 72-68-71—211
Chris Dompier 71-71-70—212
a-Tristan Mandur 70-71-71—212
a-Tyler Jones 64-77-71—212
a-Simon Kwon 71-69-72—212
Jimmy Gunn 69-68-75—212
Clay Ogden 74-71-68—213
Justin Keiley 68-72-73— 213
a-Elijah Turner 71-69-73—213
a-David Jennings 73-72-69—214
Josh Anderson 75-69-70—214
Colby Dean 72-72-70—214
George Markham 71-73-70—214
Tyler Weworski 71-70-73—214
Mitch Carlson 72-70-72—214
Casey Fowles 68-72-74—214
a-Brock Stanger 74-72-69—215
a-Ryan Brimley 69-75-71—215
Tommy Sharp 69-75-71—215
John Murdock 70-71-74—215
C.J. Lee 74-71-71—216
Derek Ackerman 71-73-72—216
Brandon Kida 72-68-76—216
Perry Cohen 70-73-74—217
B.J. Staten 73-72-72—217
Steele DeWald 68-77-73—218
a-Noah Schone 71-75-72—218
a-Davis Heslington 74-71-73—218
a-Dan Horner 70-73-75—218
Parker Reese 71-71-76— 218
Zach Johnson 72-71-75—218
John Bender 72-70-76—218
Jordan Rodgers 76-69-75—220
Ty Chambers 70-74-76—220