There were seven Utah-connected players who made the cut in this year’s Utah Championship, the Korn Ferry golf event concluded Sunday at Oakridge Country Club. Kayville’s Daniel Summerhays, the Davis High and former BYU player, thrilled the local fans with a strong finish at 19 under par, good for 13th place. Australian Karl Vilips, one of the events’ four exemptions announced last week, won his first tour with a score of 259 (25 under par).

Summerhays was in the hunt all weekend, opening with a 64 on Thursday and staying in the top 25 most of the weekend. He made a strong move during Saturday’s third round, scoring birdies on four of his last five holes and saving par on the 17th to move within five shots of the lead entering Sunday. He also finished strong on Sunday with a birdie on 18 as his final round ended, earning a lot of cheers from the strong Summerhays contingent in the stands on the closing hole. He still hopes to move into the top 30 in points on this year’s tour. He’s now in 39th.

BYU golfer Cooper Jones started the tourney with three solid rounds of 66, 67 and 66, moving into the Top 25 entering Sunday’s round. But he didn’t gain any momentum, finishing with a one-under 70. He qualified for the tournament last Monday, leading all qualifiers with a 63 at Bonneville Golf Course. Had he finished in the top 25 at Oakridge, he would have been eligible to play at Korn Ferry’s event this weekend in Omaha. As it was, he enjoyed a great weekend and will now prepare for his two-year LDS mission to Peru when he leaves in a few weeks.

Connor Howe of Ogden also made a run at the leaders with a closing 64. He moved up nine notches in the Korn Ferry Tour standings for the season, now in 155th place. Other finishers with Utah golf ties were BYU’s Peter Kuest and amateur Kihei Alona, both at 13 under and tied for 49th, Alpine’s Carson Lundell at 10 under (49th), and Alpine amateur Max Brenchley at 8 under (75th).

Two other amateurs with Davis County connections made the field. Arizona State golfer Preston Summerhays, who grew up in the county but now plays out of Scottsdale, Arizona, just missed the cut after Friday’s round. He finished at 3 under and had some bad luck on the 16th hole as his second round concluded. He hit a great pitch on the par four hole that hit the stick and bounced back toward the front of the green. Had that shot gone in, he would have picked up two shots with the eagle and made the cut. But he ended up three-putting for a bogey. 

And former Davis High and BYU golfer Cole Ponich from Farmington earned his spot in Monday’s qualifier with a blazing 65. He had a strong Friday round with a 2 under 69 but missed the cut and finished 1 under for the tourney.

Attendance at this year’s event was solid, despite the blazing heat over the weekend. Many of these golfers who’ve been on the Korn Ferry Tour for several years like the Oakridge layout and how well the tournament is run each year. The greens were quite fast again and familiarity with the way putts usually break toward the Great Salt Lake was helpful.

Vilips has been very hot the past month on the Korn Ferry circuit. He earned his exemption with a strong finish the week before and takes his first title and a check for $180,000 to this week’s Omaha event. There are two tourneys left in the regular Korn Ferry season before playoffs begin, culminating in the finals on Oct. 3-6 in French Link, Indiana.