As often happens on the opening day of match play at the Utah Men’s State Amateur golf tournament, there were plenty of fireworks Wednesday at Ogden Golf & Country Club.
How about the brother-vs.-brother duel between No. 1 seed and medalist Tyson Shelley and his younger brother, Austin, the 64 seed and last golfer to make it into match play?
How about defending champion Simon Kwon getting knocked out by relative unknown Aidan Thain 1 up?
How about 49-year-old former champion Darrin Overson defeating Utah Junior State Amateur champion Lincoln Markham?
How about five matches requiring extra holes to determine the winner?
The most intriguing match of the first round had to be the matchup between the Shelley brothers. Tyson, a 21-year-old junior at BYU, had won medalist honors the day before with an 8-under-par 132 total, earning him the top seed in the 64-man bracket.
Meanwhile, 16-year-old Austin had to show up early Wednesday morning for a 14-man playoff to determine the final three spots for match play. He scraped by, earning the third and final spot.
Tyson jumped out to a 4-up lead after the first nine, but Austin came back to win holes 10, 11, 13 and 16. Suddenly the match was tied, but Tyson won No. 17 when Austin bogeyed and the elder Shelley closed out the match with a par at 18.
The big upset came when Thain, a 25-year-old Washington native who plays out of Stonebridge GC, eliminated Kwon, a BYU golfer who had finished second in 2022 and won last year.
Thain took a 2-up lead after the seventh hole, saw Kwon come back to even the match after No. 13, then won 14 and 15 with birdies and parred the final two after Kwon won the 16th.
Several matches went to extra holes. The longest featured BYU golfer Cole Ponich, the No. 3 seed, needing 22 holes to beat Caleb Norton.
Former professional Steele DeWald beat Cameron Crawford in 20 holes, while 19-hole matches were won by Andrew Barton over Bode Salas, Bridger Holmes over Braylon Bingham and Brock Porter over Salt Lake City Am champion Bowen Mauss.
BYU golfer Cooper Jones had the most lopsided opening round win, defeating Blake Murray of Vernal 8 and 6.
Sixteen-year-old Jack Summerhays, oldest son of former champion Daniel Summerhays, advanced with a 3 and 1 victory over Cooper Cannon, while another 16-year-old, Will Pedersen, beat Tyler Ewell 1 up.
Second- and third-round matches will be played Thursday, reducing the field to eight. Quarterfinal and semifinal matches will be played Friday, leaving two golfers for a 36-hole final Saturday beginning at 8 a.m.
First round matches
Tyson Shelley def. Austin Shelley 1 up
Brendan Thomas def. Cole Enlow 2 up
Brock Porter def. Bowen Mauss, 19 holes
Oscar Maxfield def. Noah Moody 5 and 3
Bridger Holmes def. Braylon Bingham, 19 holes
Darrin Overson def. Lincoln Markham 2 up
Jackson Rhees def. Nicholas Taggart 3 and 2
Peyton Hastings def. Austin Rustand 2 and 1
David Liechty def. Dylan McDaniel 3 and 2
John Cook def. Carson Dopp 1 up
Zach Felts def. Brogan Bennett 5 and 3
Josh Howe def. Jake Griffin 4 and 3
Cooper Jones def. Blake Murray 8 and 6
Matthew Seppanen def. Davis Heslington 2 up
Cole Ogden def. Preston Cheney 4 and 3
Jacob Marx def. Rex Wilson 1 up
Cole Ponich def. Caleb Norton, 22 holes
Dan Horner def. Ryker Dunkley 4 and 2
Hayden Banz def. Devin Tovey 3 and 2
Parker Bunn def. Sterling Peterson 2 and 1
Jack Summerhays def. Cooper Cannon 3 and 1
Elijah Turner def. Austin Geddings 1 up
Zac Jones def. Maddox Nielsen 1 up
Will Blanchard def. Kenny Palmer 6 and 4
John Fox def. David Jennings 1 up
Leo Torres def. Shane McMillan 3 and 2
Noah Schone def. Andrew Ahlstrom 3 and 2
Davis Johnson def. John Owen 4 and 2
Aidan Thain def. Simon Kwon 1 up
Andrew Barton def. Bode Salas, 19 holes
Will Pedersen def. Tyler Ewell 1 up
Steele DeWald def. Cameron Crawford, 20 holes