Spurred on by her brother and Bruno Mars, Taylorsville’s Ashley Lam wins 120th Utah Women’s State Amateur

FARMINGTON — Most caddies are credited by top amateur and professional golfers for helping them select the right clubs and read greens, but for 20-year-old Ashley Lam on Thursday at Oakridge Country Club, it was a little piece of advice her 22-year-old brother Sean Lam gave her that just might have meant the difference between winning and losing the 36-hole championship match of the 120th Utah Women’s Amateur.

Four times heavy underdog Ashley Lam took the lead over six-time champion Kelsey Chugg, 35, on a buzzard-hot day in Davis County, but each time Chugg came roaring back, including from a three-hole deficit on the 32th, 34th and 35th holes to square the match heading into the 36th hole, No. 18 at Oakridge.

So how was Lam able to keep her composure after losing the big lead in a four-hole stretch?

“It was just my brother telling me to lock in and just stop being a little baby,” she said, then added that she wouldn’t take that kind of tough love from anybody but him. Sean Lam played golf briefly for Glendale College in Arizona and now works for Callaway.

“It was a really great experience, just because he’s been with me all throughout, just my whole childhood playing golf with him,” an emotional Ashley Lam said after her big brother playfully roughed her up a bit to congratulate her on the 18th green before the traditional trophy ceremony took place.

“So it was just surreal, and just being able to play with him as my caddy was really fun and he got me in a great mood the whole time.”

Photo Gallery: 1 of 33

1 of 33

Photo Gallery: 2 of 33

2 of 33

Photo Gallery: 3 of 33

3 of 33

Photo Gallery: 4 of 33

4 of 33

Photo Gallery: 5 of 33

5 of 33

Photo Gallery: 6 of 33

6 of 33

Photo Gallery: 7 of 33

7 of 33

Photo Gallery: 8 of 33

8 of 33

Photo Gallery: 9 of 33

9 of 33

Photo Gallery: 10 of 33

10 of 33

Photo Gallery: 11 of 33

11 of 33

Photo Gallery: 12 of 33

12 of 33

Photo Gallery: 13 of 33

13 of 33

Photo Gallery: 14 of 33

14 of 33

Photo Gallery: 15 of 33

15 of 33

Photo Gallery: 16 of 33

16 of 33

Photo Gallery: 17 of 33

17 of 33

Photo Gallery: 18 of 33

18 of 33

Photo Gallery: 19 of 33

19 of 33

Photo Gallery: 20 of 33

20 of 33

Photo Gallery: 21 of 33

21 of 33

Photo Gallery: 22 of 33

22 of 33

Photo Gallery: 23 of 33

23 of 33

Photo Gallery: 24 of 33

24 of 33

Photo Gallery: 25 of 33

25 of 33

Photo Gallery: 26 of 33

26 of 33

Photo Gallery: 27 of 33

27 of 33

Photo Gallery: 28 of 33

28 of 33

Photo Gallery: 29 of 33

29 of 33

Photo Gallery: 30 of 33

30 of 33

Photo Gallery: 31 of 33

31 of 33

Photo Gallery: 32 of 33

32 of 33

Photo Gallery: 33 of 33

33 of 33

Some credit should also go to Bruno Mars, whose song was blaring from the speakers at the swimming pool near the No. 10 tee. Lam was 1 up at the time, and sang along as if she was just out playing another practice with her friends on the Westminster golf team.

It was a pretty good sign that the recent teenager was holding up well amidst all the pressure of playing in a final match against perhaps the most accomplished female golfer in Utah history.

“I don’t remember the (name) of the song, but I was like, ‘Oh, this is a great song to just hit a tee shot to. … I was like, I might as well keep the vibes high and good,’” she said.

With her first Utah State Women’s Amateur victory, Lam earned an exemption into the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Honors Course in Tennessee in early August.

After getting a No. 23 seed in Monday’s stroke-play qualifying, Lam beat Jane Olson 2 up, Natalie McLane 5 and 4, Rosie Oettli 5 and 3 and Samantha Phelan in 19 holes to make it to her first final.

“I am overwhelmed with really a lot of emotion,” she said, fighting back tears. “It is such a crazy experience. I didn’t think I would be able to make it this far. … It’s my first final, and being able to play against all these good girls, and then being able to play my game and pull it out, is great.”

Despite Chugg never having the lead the entire day, the match came down to the 36th hole after Lam lost the lead with a double-bogey on No. 17, the 35th hole. She was definitely wobbling, and Chugg was making clutch shot after clutch shot to get back into the match.

On No. 18, Lam stuck a “choked down pitching wedge” to within 5 feet of the hole from 104 yards out, and Chugg conceded a few moments later after experiencing bunker issues.

“I tried to keep my cool, keep my composure throughout the whole thing,” Lam said. “I’ve said this before: I’ve played a lot of golf, so I feel like I’ve been through a lot of pressure, and just being able to handle the pressure is pretty normal to me.”

Chugg will keep chasing Bev Nelson

For Chugg, it was only the second time she has lost a match in the finals, in eight appearances. Her record in State Am matches dropped to 45-9, but her place as one of the best in Utah women’s golf history was cemented well before Thursday’s match.

Still, the loss stung for the associate director of golf for Salt Lake City.

“I didn’t have my best stuff, but I still just hung in there and tried to grind it out and stay positive,” she said.

Chugg continually outdrove Lam, but her putting was subpar, by her standards, and probably the biggest reason why she lost. She said that she thought “multiple times” that it just wasn’t her day, but kept plugging away.

“I’m just proud of myself for digging deep, because I really could have given up when she went 3 up and I just kept hitting weird chips and bad shots and I got a little down on myself,” Chugg said. “Yeah, I am just proud of myself for sticking it through.”

Chugg said she will continue to chase the record of eight Women’s State Am championships won by Bev Nelson from her first in 1955 to her last in 1979. Chugg joined four other women who have won it six times when she won two years ago at TalonsCove over teenager Ali Mulhall, who is now a pro.

The other women are Florence Halloran, Helen Hofmann-Bertagnole, Mary Lou Baker and Marcia Thayne, who won all six of hers consecutively from 1969 to 1974.

“Absolutely, yeah (the record is still the goal),” Chugg said. “It definitely was on my mind this week, and any opportunity I get to get closer to that will be amazing. I think, at this point, it is something important to me to do, so hopefully I make it happen.”

Chugg defeated Ellie Jo Olsen, Brooklyn Maes, Grace Summerhays and Rylee Salome en route to her eighth finals appearance in 15 years. Her accomplishments are even more remarkable when one considers that back when Nelson, Thayne and others were winning the championships, there was no such thing as high school or women’s college golf.

And the fields now are not only larger, but considerably more accomplished than ever before.

“I’ve now lost two finals, one to Grace, and today, and every single one has been difficult, I think,” Chugg said. “They’ve always come down to the wire. Maybe a couple were bigger wins, but it’s always hard. It takes a lot to get to the final, and then pull it off.”

Now Lam knows that, with a tip of the cap to her brother.

Next year’s tournament will be held at Bonneville Golf Course in Salt Lake City.