Fairways • Fall 09
Zac Blair's Patience Results
in Player of the Year Award

by Dick Harmon

The cherub face and diminutive 5-foot-6, 120-pound frame of Zac Blair can fool a lot of people. Put a golf club in his hand, roll a ball in front of him and he’ll beat you like a drum.

That proved Blair’s Utah golf storyline in 2009.

Blair, 19, is hatching a golf career reminiscent of his father, Jimmy, one of the fiercest competitors the state has ever known. For his efforts, his victories, his finishes, and his overall gamesmanship, Zac Blair is the Utah Golf Association’s Player of the Year for 2009.

“It’s really special to me,” said Blair of the honor. “It was one of my goals this year and it’s an honor to get it. To be named the player of the year with all the great golfers in this state, it means a lot.”

Zac had a tremendous season, which included five wins and four low amateur titles in open events. His season was highlighted when he joined some impressive company as the champion of the Utah State Amateur. “It was an easy decision for us to name Zac as our Player of the Year, he had a tremendous season and should be very proud of his accomplishments,” said Al Simkins, UGA President. The level of competitiveness among amateur golfers is apparent by looking at the number of times the UGA has awarded co-players of the year in recent years, “with this level of competition it is difficult to continually say that one player is a favorite when he is in the field, Zac however is an exception to that rule,” said Simkins.

Despite his small frame he can launch his drives 290 yards and they’re mostly right down the sprinkler line. He pokes his 3-wood 265-ish. His iron play is precise and when his putter is on, he is deadly. But what sets him apart is his competitive spirit. Like his father, a two-time All-American at BYU in the mid-70s, he hates to lose and that propels him around a course.

Zac’s father Jimmy remains a cagy veteran with a long history of success throughout the Intermountain region and played college golf with Mike Reid, John Fought and Jim Nelford. What was the best thing his father taught him about the game? “Just to stay patient, relax and let the game come to me,” said Zac.

“That helped me a lot at the beginning of the year, to calm down and let tournaments come to me instead of trying to do too much. He told me that about five minutes before I teed off at Schneiter’s Bluff and that was the first tournament I won. It just kicked off the year and got me staying patient and not trying too hard to where I’d turn it into labor. It got to me to where I didn’t have to force anything, I just got to where it came naturally.”

In a storybook finish only a father and son could dream of, Blair won the grueling Utah State Amateur championship at Valley View 5 & 3 over Weber State’s Alex Sutton in July.

The win was a repeat for the Blair family in the tournament which the UGA touts as the oldest continuously held tournament in the world. The title comes because World War II interrupted every historical golf event held worldwide except the Utah State Am.

Zac’s father, Jimmy, won the State Amateur title 36 years earlier as an 18-year old before he attended his first year at BYU out of Ogden.

A month after winning the State Am, Zac struck again when he finished as the low amateur in the Utah Open at Oakridge Country Club. He fired rounds of 68-69-69 for a for third-place finish all by himself. The 206 was four strokes behind the winner, 26-year old professional Nathan Lashley and one shot behind runner-up, 46-year old Doug Garwood of California.

Blair’s 10-under finish was better than any Utah player, including some of the best professional talent the state has produced. These faces included former U.S. PubLinks champion Clay Ogden, who finished in the top three at the first stage of Tour School this fall, PGA Assistant Tournament champion Steve Schneiter and Jake Ellison, who finished nine-under 207.

Zac bogied the final hole at the Open, which prevented him a runner-up tie with Garwood.

“Low amateur is good, but I’d rather have won,” Blair said.

If the Utah Open is any indication of his abilities, the next step for Blair at BYU should be an attainable challenge for Blair. Open winner Lashley was an All-American at the University of Arizona and he had to birdie his final three holes to hold off Blair at Oakridge.

After a spectacular year of competition, Blair enrolled at BYU this fall. His talents were immediately on display in the qualifying rounds to make the traveling squad for the Cougars. Blair fired rounds of 65 and 66 at Riverside Country Club to finish second on the team at the first qualifying before school started.

That’s like posting a sticky note to teammates: I’m no rookie.

“He certainly got everyone’s attention right off the bat,” said BYU golf coach Bruce Brockbank.

“He’s hit the ground running.”

“He’s put on a uniform and is playing for a team now and the college game is different from what he’s used to,” said Brockbank. “He’s making the adjustment to college life where we get them up early for workouts and academics come into play. It might take a while for him to adjust, just like it has for many others.”

Brockbank said Blair’s power off the tee is impressive and it sets up his game. “He hits it pretty good for a little guy. There’s a lot of heart in there that makes him compete. But the thing is, he likes to win. It drives him. He sets his goals high and this adds to a good environment for us.”

Blair said college distracted his game and he found it a challenge to juggle academics, a new schedule and golf. When he got to the course, college stuff followed.

“It’s something new but I’ll get used to it,” Blair said.

Blair got his first taste of college competition at the William Tucker Invitational where he shot rounds of 73-75-75 for a 7-under 223 and tie for 48th. He finished in a tie for 37th at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic in South Bend, Ind., with a plus-15 after rounds of 76-74-75. But in Dallas in the rain-soaked Baylor Intercollegiate the end of October, he was BYU’s top finisher, albeit 8-over par with rounds of 72-77-72 (221).

“I got away from what helped me all summer where I was down the middle, hitting greens and winning, to where I started worrying about school, homework assignments. It carried over to the golf course, where I didn’t have a clear mind on my game and worried about doing well for the team.

“But it’s still golf and I have to worry about doing well for myself. So I think I just got away from it, worrying about too much. I think I can get back to it to where I can focus on golf when it’s golf time. It’s new but I’ll get back to it.”

Dick Harmon is a sportswriter for the Deseret Morning News and a frequent contributor to Fairways.