Fairways • Fall 09
What a Year!

by Thomas Pagel

What a year! As the snow begins to fall and we start to wrap up another successful golf season it is always fun to reflect on some of the highlights of the past season. In 2009 the Utah Golf Association crowned a number of champions, rated a record number of golf courses, hosted a national junior event and continued to work on behalf of our members in serving the interests of the game in our state. I have created a short list of my favorite highlights from my first year at the UGA.

The UGA hosted the 111th Utah State Amateur at Valley View Golf Course which was won by 18-year-old Zac Blair. Zac accomplished far more than just joining his father Jimmy on the State Amateur trophy, he also won eight other titles on the amateur circuit and finished alone in third place at the Utah Open. All of this earned Zac the title of 2009 UGA player of the year.

The tournament program for senior golfers continued to grow this season. The number of tournaments available for the senior men on the PPR reached 24! That is twenty four competitive events for seniors of all abilities. Based on the ever growing participation and excitement surrounding the senior program the UGA announced at our annual meeting that we will be awarding a Senior Player of the Year each season. In 2009 the inaugural award went to Steve Poulson who won his third straight UGA Senior Amateur title this July.

Women’s golf saw a number of competitors rise to the top including the Women’s State Amateur Champion Natalie Stone who continues her family’s golfing legacy. Fourteen-year-old Sirene Blair also made a name for herself this year. Sirene (no relation to Zac) started her season off with victories at both the UGA Winterchamps and the Mary Lou Baker Women’s Open and continued her strong play into the Women’s State Amateur where she finished second to Stone.

The UGA continued to grow our relationship with our allied organizations in Utah such as the Utah State Womens Golf Association, the Utah Section of the PGA, the Utah Junior Golf Association and the Intermountain Golf Course Superintendents Association. In difficult times such as these it is now more important than ever that industry partners work together to promote and protect the game of golf in this great state.

2009 also saw the UGA measure and rate a record number of courses. Between the men and women the UGA performed over 50 course ratings. That is the most courses rated in a single season since the initial ratings which took place after the USGA changed to the current rating system in 1986.

The UGA welcomed a number of new staff members to our team in 2009. Ron Newren rejoined the association in a full time capacity as our Director of Rules and Competitions, Jeremy Bates was hired as the Director of IT and Member Services and Mary Mudd joined the staff as the new office manager taking over for Toni Guest who retired after 24 years of service. These three staff members have been a wonderful addition to the association.

My absolute favorite highlight from the 2009 season was the 32nd Girls Junior Americas Cup which was held at Logan G & CC. This event brought the best junior girls from throughout the western United States, Mexico and Canada for a 54-hole stroke play competition. The tournament represents a large commitment and undertaking from the host association and golf course and thanks to Toni Guest, Linda Olsen and the membership of Logan Golf and Country Club the event was a huge success.

As you can see the UGA had a busy year in 2009. The one common thread amongst all of the activities for the UGA is the dedicated crew of volunteers. From the board of directors, to the Rules officials to our course raters, the UGA was founded by volunteers and continues to be directed and operated by volunteers.

It is thanks to the tireless efforts of this group of individuals that the UGA is able to conduct all of our programs for our membership. These volunteers truly make the UGA what it is. Many times these individuals are on site from sun-up to sundown doing whatever task they are assigned. Often times they are performing thankless tasks to ensure that the UGA is successful in its ventures and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the volunteers who helped make 2009 such a successful year.

Please follow my lead and the next time you are playing in a UGA championship or you happen to run into a UGA Course Rating team in the field take the opportunity to thank them for making the UGA such a special organization.

There are many opportunities which exist to volunteer with the UGA, if you or anyone you know would be interested in volunteering for the association please contact our offices. We always welcome new members to the team.

I hope you enjoy your winter and we look forward to seeing you on the course in 2010!

Thomas Pagel is the executive director of the Utah Golf Association.