MIDWAY — If there was ever a champion of the Utah Men’s State Amateur golf tournament who would prefer to let his golf clubs do the talking for him, it would be Draper’s Bowen Mauss, a soft-spoken sophomore at Arizona State.
Actually, we can say that twice, because Mauss is now a two-time champion of the longest continuously held golf tournament in the world. Mauss repeated the title he won last year at Logan Country Club with a 9 and 7 win over 38-year-old Cedar Hills business owner Cameron Crawford in the championship match of the 128th Utah State Amateur on Saturday at Soldier Hollow Golf Club.
“Yeah, it is awesome,” said the Corner Canyon High School product. “This one feels just as good … I would say it is pretty similar (to last year). It is a long week, and it is a battle the whole weekend.”
Not coincidentally, the last golfer to repeat as State Am champ also played for Arizona State, former Farmington resident Preston Summerhays. Summerhays won in 2018 at Oakridge Country Club and in 2019 at Soldier Hollow.
“Yeah, he is on the Korn Ferry (Tour), and a good buddy of mine,” Mauss said while standing on the Gold Course’s No. 11 green at Soldier Hollow, having recorded one of the most dominant championship match wins in State Am history.
Next year at Sandy’s Willow Creek Country Club, Mauss will try to become the first contestant to win three straight State Ams since Ed Kingsley won four straight from 1932 to 1935.
“Yeah, that would be cool,” he said.
With the win, Mauss earns a spot in the 126th U.S. Amateur next month at Merion Golf Club outside Philadelphia. And for the first time, the Utah State Am champion gets an exemption into the Bank of Utah Championship at Black Desert Resort in Ivins, a PGA Tour event, in October.
“I definitely plan on playing. I’m really excited to make my second PGA Tour start, and I would like to make the most of it,” he said. “I am grateful for it.”
Mauss brought his ‘A’ game again on Saturday, just as he has done all tournament since match play began. He’s now 12-0 in his last two State Ams, and this year he trailed in a match only once, in the 19-hole quarterfinal win over BYU’s David Liechty.
He called that win over Liechty the most taxing in his six-match run to the crown, but also noted that Crawford was playing really well and had knocked out his brother, Jackson, in 23 holes in a quarterfinal Friday morning.
That win for Crawford in all likelihood kept the State Am from having a matchup of brothers in the championship match for the first time in its long history. Saturday, Jackson Mauss, a BYU golfer, was on his brother’s bag.
“It was pretty intense,” Bowen Mauss said of his win over Liechty, a repeat of a semifinal win last year in Logan. “I was down the whole way until the playoff hole, and I think that really prepared me well for today. … I know that Cameron’s a really good player, too. I had to play really well against him, but I also went through some good players before him.”
Mauss never trailed on Saturday, and went 2 up with an eagle on No. 7. Crawford won just one hole in the first 18 holes, and Mauss had a five-hole lead when they broke for lunch.
After lunch, Mauss kept the hammer down, despite Crawford playing better tee to green. The former Jordan High and Dixie State College (now Utah Tech) star just couldn’t get any putts to drop.
Having played 41 holes to win his two matches Friday, the 38-year-old Crawford simply ran out of gas.
“I am pretty tired,” he said after the match ended on the 29th hole, No. 11 at Soldier. “It’s a long week. … I am actually closer to a senior golfer (50 years old) than a mid-am golfer, by a year. So I will take it. I am happy. I wish I put up a little bit more of a fight today, but that’s golf.”
While Mauss will fly out to Atlanta on Monday to play in the Southern Amateur next week, Crawford will try to recover from the grueling week.
“My body is caked in Icy Hot,” he said. “A long, cold shower is gonna feel really good after this.”
Crawford owns two businesses, including Mountain West Fence and Deck Supply. But the run this week gave him confidence that he can win more tournaments moving forward.
“Bowen was definitely the better player today, and that is just how it goes sometimes,” Crawford said.
The golfer who qualified for the match play in the U.S. Mid-Amateur last year provided perhaps the best moment of the match, taking a mock bow after draining a 15-foot putt for birdie on the 26th hole, No. 8, to trim Mauss’ lead to eight holes with 10 to play. That was one of only three holes that Crawford won all day.
“Finally rolled in a putt,” Crawford said. “You know, if you can’t make fun of yourself, you can’t (be) out here.”
